Once Bitten
by Elise de Sallier
Summary: Edward finally meets the love of his existence but can't resist her singer's blood. Can their fairytale love survive a horror beginning or will Bella's newborn grief, an outraged wolf pack, and the offended Volturi deny them their happily ever after? COMPLETE with a future take or two to come.
1. Silver and Gold

_**Stephanie Meyer created the Twiverse and owns all the characters. I'm just here to play. :)**_

_**Thank you for giving my first Twific story a go. If you'd like to read some recs/reviews for Once Bitten written by other authors, I have posted them on my profile page.**_

_**A huge thank you to Project Team Beta for accepting my story, introducing me to my wonderful Betas, and helping me to find the courage I needed to put myself, and my story, out there. **_

_**Thank you to my Betas, SqueakyZorro and ChloeCougar, who beta'ed this chapter and then both requested to stay with me for the rest of the ride. **_

_**I have tweaked the 'Twiverse' a little to make things work in my slightly alternative universe as follows:  
>* Bella kept visiting Charlie each summer.<br>* Bella and Jake are best friends.  
>* Jake has already made the transformation to wolf.<br>**_

_**There are a few other 'tweaks' ahead—namely some amped up powers for the lovely Bella Vamp—but first things first...**_

_**Posted: June 3rd 2011  
>Words: 3143<strong>_

Chapter 1

Silver and Gold

BPOV

Jake and I sat watching the waves roll in at La Push beach, our legs hanging over the tailgate of my old red truck. I huddled against him to ward off the biting cold, as grey skies threatened rain at any moment. For once I didn't care about the miserable weather, just happy to be with my best friend again after months apart.

"So...first day at Forks High tomorrow, bet you're looking forward to that." Jake smirked.

Sighing, I tucked my hair behind my ear to anchor it against the tugging wind.

"Huh...thanks for the reminder," I muttered.

Not only would I be the new girl, I was starting in the second half of the school year...not an ideal situation. Being the focus of attention was one of my least favorite things, along with rain, snow…pretty much anything cold and wet. My new hometown, with its towering, dripping greenery and almost constant cloud cover, might not have been hell on earth, but it was definitely circling the perimeter.

"No chance they'll let you transfer from the res school?" I asked wistfully, thinking how nice it would be to have even _one _friend at my new school, not that we would have been in the same grade. Jake was a year younger than me, though you'd never have guessed by looking at him. Since the last time I'd seen him, he'd turned from an average looking teenage boy into a six-foot-six-inch mountain of pure muscle. He swore he wasn't doing steroids, but his extreme growth spurt had me seriously worried.

"You know I'd come to school with you if I could." Jake looked uncomfortable at my request and shrugged his massive shoulders, almost knocking me sideways.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Quileutes stay on the res.'" I grumbled. "Honestly, they've got you on such a tight leash, it's a wonder we're still allowed to be friends." Normally Jake would have been waiting at my house when I arrived in Forks for my yearly visit with my dad. But this time I'd had to call to arrange for us to get together, and he'd sounded hesitant, stunning me by saying he'd have to check to see if he wa allowed.

The muscles in his Jake's jaw clenched tightly at my words, reminding me that it wasn't just his appearance that had changed since last summer. I wasn't quite sure what had happened to my happy-go-lucky best friend, but his easy, relaxed personality was now overlaid by a persistent aura of tension. And then there was his much shorter fuse, which I'd seen evidence of twice already in the few hours we'd been together. I blamed his new 'friends.'

Last summer he'd been convinced that some of the young guys from the reservation were being led astray by Sam Uley, a Quilleute leader in the making. Now Jacob was a bona fide member of Sam's gang and insisted that he was a great guy.

Personally, I wasn't convinced.

"There's something I need to warn you about before you go to school tomorrow." Jake interrupted my troubled thoughts.

I frowned at his tone. "Warn me?"

"Yeah, this is serious," he continued, sounding an awful lot like my father Charlie, the local Chief of Police. "There are some _students_ who go to Forks High that you need to stay away from. They're dangerous."

"Dangerous...how?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

"Trust me, Bella, you don't want to know. Just stay away from these guys. I don't want you having anything to do with them."

I stared at him, my thoughts scrambling. It wasn't like Jake to be judgmental, not without a very good reason. But I hoped he wasn't telling me who I could and couldn't be friends with.

"You're kidding right?" I frowned.

"No, I'm not joking, Bells. They're dangerous...more dangerous than you can imagine. You can't tell by looking at them; in fact they look sort of _appealing._" He grimaced.

"You're worried about good-looking bad guys masquerading as school students?" I tried laughing off his bizarre warning. His fierce expression didn't lighten, and I wondered if he could be jealous because these guys were attractive. But I dismissed the thought as soon as it formed. Jake was kind of...beautiful, especially since he'd filled out and developed such amazing muscles. It was _how_ he'd developed those muscles so quickly that had me worried, and I couldn't resist asking, "So what… they're the local drug dealers? Is that how you know them?"

"I told you I'm not doing drugs!" he yelled, grabbing my arms and giving me a rough shake. Stunned, it took me a second to react.

"Ouch...Jake!" I cried out, more from shock than pain though it did hurt. He let go immediately, his breath coming in short gasps.

"They're not _drug dealers_, they're worse than that...way worse."

I stared, dismayed at Jake's outburst. I was sure he hadn't meant to hurt me, but I hoped I didn't bruise. If Charlie found out, he would never understand.

Jake's words finally registered, and I wondered what could be worse than drug dealers. _Gun runners? The mafia?_ If Forks had a major crime problem, I was fairly certain my dad would have mentioned it.

"Umm...I can handle the local gangs," I murmured, feeling a little dazed. "Forks High has got what...three hundred kids? There were more than twice that many in my grade back in Phoenix."

I hoped my words would mollify Jake's concerns, but they didn't. Jumping down from the back of the truck, he stood towering over me, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Just don't let them fool you, Bella!" he practically growled. "Keep your eyes open for the ones who look like they don't belong and stay the hell away from them!"

My mouth dropped open. Jake had been my best friend for a long time, and I'd _never_ seen him like this. Angry and more than a little afraid, I clamored down from the back of the truck—rolling my ankle in the process...naturally—but needing to get away. Pushing past him, I limped toward the cab of my truck.

I couldn't believe this was happening. We hadn't even had a serious argument before.

"Hey, Bells, I'm sorry. Please don't be angry with me," he pleaded, changing his tone as he sprinted past me to block the truck door. "I didn't really hurt you, did I? I just don't know my own strength lately."

I shook my head, not wanting to leave things like this but not sure how to respond to this new, agro, unpredictable Jake. He must be using steroids. I couldn't think of any other excuse for his massive growth, crazy mood swings, and scary new temper.

"I need you to understand, but I can't explain and it's killing me!" he cried when I didn't answer, running his hands through his newly short-cropped black hair…the hair I'd always loved long, but that he'd cut off to be like the other guys in Sam's gang.

"I'd understand if you told me what was really going on," I pleaded, staring up into his dark, pain-filled eyes. For a moment he looked like he was going to confide in me, but then his jaw tensed and he turned away. Following the direction of his gaze, I saw Sam and the others waiting for him on the edge of the forest...shirtless as usual despite the freezing cold. Jake nodded to them, his expression resigned.

"Gotta go, Bells. Sorry I upset you. I just couldn't stand it if anything happened to you."

I reached out to touch his arm, not wanting us to part on bad terms despite his strange and frightening behavior. It wasn't normal for him. Neither was the temperature of his skin which was much warmer than it should have been—something else he couldn't, or _wouldn't,_ explain—and I wished I knew what sort of hold Sam had over him. I was trying to be patient, but my hopes that Jake would open up and tell me what was really going on were waning.

"So, I'll see you after school tomorrow?" I called as he began to walk away. He was still my best friend, and I wouldn't give up on him easily. "You can help me celebrate surviving my first day."

Jake spun back to face me, his expression livid.

"Don't even joke, Bella or so help me, treaty or no treaty, I'll rip that damn school apart!"

I stepped back, stunned. Jake's moods weren't just mercurial...they were terrifying.

Did Billy know there was something seriously wrong with his son?

I'd have to tell Charlie and hope he could do something to help...that's if Billy was willing to listen. On top of everything else, Jake's and my dad had fallen out since last summer.

"I'm sorry Bella, I _really _have to go." Jacob's whole body shook as he spoke. "Please…promise me you'll stay safe?"

"I promise. I'll be fine."

He nodded then turned towards the tree line, ripping his shirt off as he broke into a run. Feeling helpless and confused, I watched him disappear into the forest.

_~OB~_

"You okay, Bells?"

Not much got past Charlie, though my stomping around the kitchen and banging plates down on the counter probably helped him work out that something was wrong. I'd gone straight up to my room as soon as I arrived home to check my arms, and they were bruised, with distinctive finger marks ringing both upper arms—_finger marks! _

Charlie would freak if he found out.

"Problems with you and Jake," Charlie persisted and I looked up, startled. A lot of the time he seemed a bit oblivious, but sometimes it was like he could read my mind.

"Yeah." I shrugged, not wanting to give too much away. "He's just not the same."

"The muscles? The moodiness?"

"So, you've seen it too?" I was relieved I wouldn't have to go into detail. The less I said, the less likely it was that Charlie would guess what had happened. "Have you tried talking to Billy about it?" I risked asking.

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p.' "Fat lot of good it did me. I was told, and in no uncertain terms, to 'mind my own business.'"

"Oh, Dad. I'm sorry," I murmured, sadly. "What's with you guys? I thought you'd be friends forever?"

"It's the new town doctor," Charlie grumbled. "Billy and the others are being totally unreasonable about him _and_ his family. Carlisle Cullen is a world-class surgeon…could work anywhere he wants. The people of Forks should be grateful he chose to move here, and they are...all except for the elders. Some folks were worried when we found out he and his wife have five foster children, but we've had no problems from them at all—which is more than I can say for some of the local kids."

_Five foster children?_ I didn't know what to make of that...or Jacob's warning. Putting the clues together, it wasn't difficult to guess who the 'dangerous but strangely appealing' students were that he wanted me to avoid. But it didn't make sense. With having lost his mom so tragically, I'd have thought Jake would be sympathetic to a bunch of disadvantaged kids. It did sound like they'd landed on their feet, being taken in by a wealthy surgeonand his wife, and I wondered if he could be jealous. That seemed just as out of character as his recent outbursts, but I was beginning to question whether I knew Jake as well as I thought I did. A few weeks together every summer left a lot of time unaccounted for.

_~OB~_

Sighing despondently, I watched the Forks High School sign come into view. My concern for Jacob had distracted me from my new-girl woes…but only temporarily. As I pulled into the crowded parking lot of Forks High, I took note of the smaller, newer-looking cars filling the spaces.

"Don't hate the truck," I muttered when I saw the kids staring at my old red Chevy, a very welcome gift from Charlie. I grabbed my bag and climbed down from the worn vinyl bench seat, closing the heavy door with a bang that seemed to echo around the parking lot. Not exactly the inconspicuous entrance I was hoping for_._

Ducking my head, I hid behind my hair, making sure to leave enough of a gap to see the ground in front of me. Falling flat on my face before I'd made it inside was not on the agenda for surviving my first day. But I'd barely passed through the entrance when a number of boys stopped me and introduced themselves. They seemed…_interested_, and I concluded that a new student at Forks High was clearly an event.

The attention was unexpected, but it could have been worse…at least they were friendly. Charlie would have said a little _too_ friendly. In Phoenix I'd been almost invisible, my pale skin and petite frame setting me apart from my bronzed and curvy classmates—and not in a good way. But by lunch time, when I took a seat with Eric, Tyler, and Mike, I felt like a shiny new toy with them all vying for my attention. I hoped it wouldn't cause problems with the girls in their group, as I was keen to make some new friends…_girl_friends. When the boys introduced me to Jessica, who reminded me a little too much of some of the bitchier girls back home, I realized I might have trouble. But Angela, with her sweet smile and friendly manner seemed very nice, and I quickly marked her as a potential friend.

We'd been chatting for a while, just getting to know one another, when a murmur of sound rippled through the cafeteria. I looked up to see what had caused the stir and saw two couples enter and cross to a vacant table by the windows: a muscular guy with dark curly hair and a beautiful blonde girl who walked with the assurance of a catwalk model, followed by a blond-haired guy with movie star good looks holding hands with a very pretty brunette. The pixie-like girl danced around him, her eyes alight as he watched her intently.

My mouth dropped open and I stared...which was a bit hypocritical, considering how much I disliked being ogled. But the foursome would have looked more at home at a supermodel convention than a small town high school. Coming to my senses, I quickly averted my gaze while Jessica and Angela told me the new students' names and surprising romantic connections. They were 'The Cullens' and Jake was right about one thing...they didn't fit in, though I'd thought Charlie had said there were five of them.

Then the fifth Cullen walked in, and the bottom dropped out of my stomach. I'd never seen such a beautiful boy before in all my life.

"That's Edward Cullen…but don't get any ideas; he doesn't date local girls. Apparently we're not _good enough_ for him," Jessica sniped. Edward smirked, but it must have been a coincidence; he couldn't possibly have heard her over the noise of the cafeteria.

"Of course, I wasn't thinking that…" I trailed off when he glanced my way.

_Oh...my..._

Edward Cullen had the darkest eyes and most intense gaze I'd ever seen, along with perfect, well, _everything_. From his radiantly pale skin, facial features that looked like they'd been sculptured by a Renaissance master, tall, broad-shouldered physique, and crazily tousled, copper-glinted hair...his beauty was beyond anything I'd ever seen—or imagined. And he was looking _straight at me_!

He seemed to hesitate—his step faltering—though he righted himself so quickly I almost didn't catch it. I stared unabashedly as he strode briskly across the room, moving with the fluid grace of a wild animal. Joining his siblings, he threw himself down in a chair before turning to stare back at me..._again!_ Stunned, I ducked my head, peeking up through my hair a few moments later to find him _still_ watching me.

You'd think someone who'd been in foster care would know how uncomfortable it was to be the new kid at school. At least I'd _stopped_ looking when I was caught…sort of.

"Wow...Edward's really staring at you," Angela murmured, and I risked another glance, only to be met...once _again..._by his intense gaze.

_What was his problem?_

"I think he likes you, Bella," she whispered. My cheeks flamed and I quickly dropped my head down onto my folded arms.

Angela's words made no sense. Edward and his foster siblings were...gods. I could barely comprehend the ordinary boys finding me attractive, but someone like Edward? Not a chance.

Jessica obviously agreed, for she snorted at Angela's suggestion. Irritated and embarrassed, I lifted my head and stared back at him, my expression fierce.

"What's with pretty boy? Hasn't anyone ever told him it's rude to stare?" I grumbled beneath my breath. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, while his foster siblings all burst out laughing. It was as if they'd heard me—which was impossible, of course. Now I was just being paranoid.

I ignored him for the rest of lunch, though I swore I felt his eyes boring into the back of my head the whole time. When the bell rang, I stood with the others but couldn't resist one last glance to where Edward sat. I was right…he was _still_ staring, a deep scowl furrowing his wide, perfect brow. My stomach tightened, and I felt a shudder ripple through me. He really was the most beautiful looking human being I'd ever seen.

As the thought crossed my mind my heart leaped wildly in my chest. It didn't hurt, but I put my hand to my chest, unsettled by the strange sensation. When I looked up, Edward had covered most of the distance between us, his brothers right behind him, holding his arms. I had no idea how they'd moved so fast.

I'd give Jacob some credit. The Cullens sure were different.

"Are you coming, Bella?" the boy called Mike asked, and I nodded slowly, turning to follow him from the cafeteria. He'd offered to show me to my next class, though I made an excuse to stop at my locker on the way. I felt so strange—different somehow—and needed a moment to catch my breath. When I finally made sense of my jumbled emotions, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

I had a crush on a boy!

It had never happened to me before; in fact I'd begun to wonder if it ever would. It really was an amazing feeling, as if a swarm of butterflies had taken up residence in my stomach while a crystal clear image of the beautifully _appealing_ Edward Cullen felt permanently engraved on my brain.

I leaned my head against my locker and stifled a groan. The feelings had come on so fast and so hard…they were overwhelming. This wasn't like me. I was sensible, practical, level-headed, and most definitely _not_ prone to flights of fancy, which was all this could ever be…a ridiculous fantasy.

There was not the tiniest chance in the known universe that a boy like Edward Cullen could ever be interested in a girl _like me._

_~OB~_

_**I hoped you enjoyed the introduction. **_

_**Next chapter: Edward and the slow-mo walk across the cafeteria. Swoon... Oh, and another tweak: Edward's reaction to seeing Bella for the first time...not exactly canon. ;)**_

_**Reviews will be read and reread and probably reread again. :D **_

_**xxx TLSue**_


	2. Unexpected

_**Stephanie Meyers owns it all, but thankfully she's willing to share. **_

_**Thank you to my wonderful Betas, SqueakyZorro and ChloeCougar, who beta'ed this for me as part of my first chapter submission to Project Team Beta. I wouldn't be here without you guys!**_

_**Also, a belated but heartfelt, thankyou to Araeo, author of the amazing Chain Reaction (I found her in the Vampies,) who encouraged me to keep going when I would have quit a couple of months ago. **_

_**Tweaks of the Twiverse in this chapter include an acceleration of the attraction Edward feels for Bella - i.e. prepare yourself for a sexy, baffled, lust-at-first-sight Edward. Oh... and he does that smokin' hot walk across the cafeteria a'la the movie - not the book version where he's already seated when Bella arrives. Apologies to the canon aficionados but Edward/Robward sauntering across that room is one of the sexiest things I've ever seen in a movie...swoon.**_

_**Posted: June 3rd 2011  
>Updated: July 27th 2011, incorporating the invaluable advice and suggestions of gkkstitch, writer extraordinaire!<strong>_

_**Word Count: 3482 for the AR types like me who need to know - ;)**_

Chapter 2

Unexpected

EPOV

I lagged behind my siblings on the way to the cafeteria, in no particular hurry to spend another lunchtime pretending to eat a meal I could neither taste nor digest. We'd been doing this for a long time now—pretending to be students of one age or another, anywhere from a couple of years younger than my 'biological' age of seventeen through to college or graduate students. Any more than that was pushing the bounds of credibility, which we already stretched to their limits, simply by pretending to be human.

I understood the value of our endless masquerade; it allowed Carlisle to work in the profession he loved and Esme the opportunity to nurture her family under one roof. But my patience for the process had worn seriously thin. My siblings didn't seem to mind the charade, but then they, like Carlisle and Esme, were couples. Having a mate made it easier for them to get through the days. I marked time, trying to avoid delving too deeply into the inane thoughts of the predominantly self-absorbed children who were our fellow students, while enduring classes far beneath my capabilities and education. The nights were my salvation, my escape from the mundane repetition of my days, where I could enjoy being with my family when they were available and alone when they were...occupied. I hunted, ran and explored for hours on end or spent time playing piano, reading and accumulating ever increasing amounts of useless information in my quest for distraction—and to give my family as much privacy as possible.

I knew they thought I was moody and obsessive. Thanks to my _gift _it was impossible not to know their opinions, though they tried to keep their more critical or pitying thoughts buried. I also knew how much they loved me, which made it easier to forgive and understand their concerns.

Following the others into the cafeteria, I did my best to ignore the barrage of thoughts that met our entrance. I'd heard them so many times before and easily interpreted their underlying emotions—envy, desire, and the ubiquitous fear they didn't understand. As far as I was concerned, it was the only emotion we inspired that actually made sense. They were wise to fear us and keep their distance. We _were_ the world's most dangerous predators after all.

As I crossed the crowded room, I overheard Jessica Stanley telling the new girl about my prejudice against dating the locals. Miss Stanley hadn't taken rejection well, and I smirked at her bitter tone. I was surprised she wasn't blaming it on my being gay, the latest rumor making the rounds—not that I cared one way or the other. Our charade may have forced me into a false affinity with my fellow students, but their opinion of me, or anything else for that matter, was of no consequence—other than in relation to the keeping of our secret, of course. Not that my disinterest made any difference to my inconveniently open mind.

Isabella Swan's arrival had been anticipated and analyzed ad nauseam for the last few weeks. I'd seen her face in dozens of minds so far this morning…an average looking human girl—brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin, slender figure. She preferred being called Bella and seemed uncomfortable with the attention directed her way. I imagined she'd be running for cover if she had any idea how many fantasies she'd inspired in the minds of the sex-obsessed teenage boys currently vying for her attention.

Glancing toward the girl, I suppressed a snort at the limited perception of human eyes. Her _plain_ brown hair was anything but. It was thick and lustrous, the color rich with deep red, chestnut and mahogany highlights—all natural. Then she turned and looked my way and, for the first time in the almost century since I had become a vampire, I stumbled—a virtual impossibility for one of my kind. Between our speed, strength, enhanced perception and supernatural reflexes, 'tripping' was never an issue. We could step down from a three story building and land as easily as a human could stepping from a curb. But my first glance at Isabella Swan had taken my unnecessary breath and superior balance away.

_Why? What was different about this girl? _

Our eyes met and I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. My long, non-beating heart leapt in my chest, threatening to choke me when it came to rest in my throat.

_No wonder I'd lost my breath!_

Blocking out the shocked comments and laughter of my siblings, I took a closer look. _Were the humans around here all blind?_ She was stunning. Her large brown eyes held my gaze captive, as did her perfectly shaped lips, tinged with subtle shades of pink and red, and her softly curved cheeks. The creamy complexion the humans perceived as _pale_ was flawless, the texture soft as silk. She was, by far, the most beautiful girl I had seen in my one hundred and seven years of existence, but even that didn't explain my reaction. I'd encountered beautiful people before, but none of them had ever affected me this way. Isabella Swan was the first and _only_ girl to ever truly gain my attention.

Righting myself so quickly I doubted the humans would have noticed my slip, I strode across the room, forcing myself to maintain human speed despite my agitation. Ignoring my now openly mocking brothers, I threw myself into the flimsy cafeteria chair, lucky it didn't collapse beneath me considering my injudicious use of force.

_Edward? You okay?_ Jasper silently queried. I knew he could sense my confusion but I ignored him and refocused on the object of my chaotic emotions.

_Why this girl? Why now?_

Her sweet beauty called to me in a way I'd never experienced before, both strange and yet oddly...familiar. I knew it was just an illusion, but it felt like my heart was racing in my chest. _It ached!_ My mouth went dry as I gasped for breath, my normally composed and highly structured thought processes scrambling to make sense of this unprecedented experience. While a part of me wanted to grab this girl and run with her to a secluded location where I could explore this bizarre, intriguing fascination, I was well aware that the right thing to do would be to run _away _from her as far and as fast as I could...and not look back.

I'd _never_ noticed a girl in this way before. Carlisle and I had discussed my lack of interest many times in the years after my change. We had our theories, but had come to no definite conclusions, the situation concerning Carlisle considerably more than it did me. It hadn't bothered me in the least when I'd felt no attraction for Rosalie despite Carlisle's best efforts to throw us together after her change. The saying that beauty is only skin deep is one homily to which I can truly attest, as less than three minutes of reading Rosalie's thoughts was all it took to eradicate any chance of a romantic connection between us. The same could be said for every female I'd met in the long years in between—human or vampire. The difference between them and the Swan girl was that I'd never cared that much, never hoped for anything different.

I looked back to where the girl was sitting, her face hidden by that incredible hair. If my heart _could _still beat it would have been pounding as, with more trepidation than I'd felt in decades, I focused on singling out her thoughts from the barrage of mental noise in the crowded cafeteria. She was a high school student, sixteen or seventeen at most. And I was a fool if I expected anything more from her than every other facile, self absorbed, unformed child I'd encountered before. Yet, for the first time in my long and lonely existence, I wanted there to be...more.

The girl looked my way and I was stunned anew at my response…it was visceral, physical and intensely disturbing.

_Edward? What the hell?_

Jasper leaned forward to get my attention but I shrugged him off, scowling as I struggled to isolate the girl's thoughts from the other children at her table. It should have been effortless. Glancing from face to face, I matched thoughts to owners in a fraction of a second, but when I returned to her beautiful face there was…nothing. It was as if she wasn't there. I felt a moment of panic, but then I recalled the only other person I'd ever encountered whose thoughts were not fully open to me—her father.

Carlisle had asked me to read Chief Swan to determine the extent of his knowledge regarding the 'feud' between us and his friends on the Quileute reservation. I'd managed to pick up a few scattered thoughts and fragmented images…enough to reassure my family of his ignorance regarding our true nature, but nowhere near as much information as I would normally retrieve. It was clearly no coincidence that the Swan father and daughter were both able to block my ability…though it seemed the girl's 'shield' was even more powerful than her father's.

As I continued to concentrate on reading her mind, I was unsure how I felt about the continuing silence. Then Angela commented on my obvious interest and Bella dropped her head onto her arms. I cursed under my breath, frustrated at being robbed of the opportunity to observe the expressions flitting in rapid succession across her delicate features. I found myself willing her to look up despite only ever having had the ability to _read_ others thoughts, not project my own. When she finally looked my way, her lovely brow creased into a frown and my mouth twitched with the beginning of an unexpected smile.

"What's with pretty boy? Hasn't anyone ever told him it's rude to stare?" she muttered so quietly I doubt her companions heard, but I did—and so did my siblings. My jaw dropped and I sat back in the chair.

"Holy hell, Edward, she's got your number!" Emmett laughed and I growled low in my chest.

"Alice?" I murmured, desperate to know why this girl was having such an unprecedented effect on me.

"I don't know," Alice replied, remorse evident in her tone. "I can't get a clear picture. I'm sorry. I see glimpses but that's all."

One of the few things I enjoyed about my gift/curse was being able to see the things that Alice saw. She was right. The glimpses she had of Isabella Swan's future were fragmented to say the least.

I could hear Jasper reassuring his mate and felt the wave of consolation he sent her way. Alice had been having a difficult time of late, her ability to see clearly affected by what I saw in her mind as 'black spots,' though she had no trouble seeing events _away_ from Forks. We'd begun to suspect our proximity to the local wolf tribe was somehow affecting her gift, and while our suspicions were unproven, it did appear that the more Quileutes made the transformation, the more gaps appeared in Alice's vision. Fortunately, I had no trouble reading the wolves in either their human or animal forms.

The bell rang, and Bella stood and looked my way. She hesitated for a moment then her heart beat erratically.

_Was there something wrong with her? Was she ill? Should I call Carlisle and tell him to come immediately?_

Her breathing quickened and she looked down, her hand moving to her chest, and I was on my way to her side before I'd even registered my intention to act.

We _never_ interfered with human affairs, never fell into the trap of playing 'superhero,' yet my concerns for her safety overrode every consideration.

I moved like lightning, Emmett and Jasper following suit…to restrain me. Simultaneously Jasper sent a wave of confusion rippling out through the cafeteria crowd, quickly disorienting any student who may have seen our inhuman display. Those that had seen would doubt themselves, questioning their own eyesight or blaming it on caffeine overload.

After staring at me for a far too brief moment—her brow furrowed in confusion—Bella turned and left with Mike Newton, one of the boys whose thoughts I'd seen earlier and whom I now wanted to tear apart with my bare hands. _How dare he think of this lovely, beautiful, _unique _girl in such a crude, pathetic manner? _His vile, despicable thoughts tainted the image I had captured of her in my mind, and it took every ounce of the self-restraint that I'd honed over the previous eight decades, not to chase him down and rip his throat out with my teeth!

"Whoa, Edward, easy," Jasper warned as he and Emmett struggled to hold me.

"Jasper, what the hell's going on?" I demanded when I'd calmed down enough for them to release me. He was the expert on emotion, though I didn't usually need his abilities to interpret my own. But I'd never felt anything like this before and had no frame of reference.

The girls approached, and I was quickly surrounded by my concerned siblings.

"I'm not sure," Jasper replied, shaking his head. "I get protectiveness, confusion…but why her?"

Alice was concentrating hard, trying to see anything that could be of help. There were enough black sections in her vision to make me believe Isabella was affected by proximity to the wolf pack, if our hypothesis was correct. I could only hope this was because of her relationship to her father and not through any personal connection with the beasts. The wolves were volatile at the best of times, but even more dangerous at present with so many newly transformed members joining the pack.

Closing my eyes, I focused on the pictures in Alice's mind: Bella running in the forest, climbing trees, hanging from the side of a steep cliff. The images surprised me. I wouldn't have predicted it, but apparently she was the adventurous, outdoors type. I thought I saw a glimpse of her in my meadow, high up in the mountains, but that was impossible—the location too remote for most humans, let alone a frail girl—no matter how athletic. There were fleeting pictures of her dressed in white—_a wedding dress?—_standing with her father, and one final picture that brought me to my knees. I saw Bella emerging from the ocean wearing a tiny white bikini and showing off a body that would put a Victoria's Secret model to shame. It was a cloudy day and her wet skin glistened in the filtered light.

Vampires rarely suffer pain, so it comes as a considerable shock when we do. I groaned and doubled over, my knees buckling as I hit the floor with a louder than normal thud. The strange sensations that cramped my belly and stunned my senses weren't _exactly_ painful but whatever they were...I'd never experienced them before.

Jasper dropped with me and grabbed my shoulders as I stared at him, silently begging him to use his gift to explain these bizarre sensations.

_It's physical attraction Edward, desire—lust!_

"What? No!" I sat back and then quickly covered my lap with my arms when I realized my body's condition confirmed his thoughts.

Emmett caught sight of my problem and burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny, Em," I groaned, and his humor quickly subsided.

"No, you're right," he agreed soberly at the same time as I saw a disturbing image in his mind. He'd pictured Bella and I together _romantically_ and the outcome was…unacceptable. My physical reaction subsided immediately but my relief was short-lived.

"What the hell's going on," Rosalie hissed. "You're making a spectacle of yourself, Edward. Pull yourself together."

"He's trying, babe," Emmett defended sympathetically, though it might have seemed more sincere if he'd been able to keep the grin from returning to his face. "But it's good news, babe. Our boy is finally becoming a man…if you get my drift. He's finally found a girl capable of making his, er...sap rise, of raising his flag-pole, of putting some wood in his…"

"Emmett!" It was my turn to hiss.

Rosalie stared at us blankly, but I knew the moment she deduced what had happened. I didn't resist when she hauled me to my feet, her hands going straight to my throat as she lifted me until only my toes touched the ground.

"She's a human female," she growled, barely containing her rage. "You hurt her and I _will_ dismember you, do you understand?"

"Hey…whoa, babe, it's not his fault, involuntary reaction. Had to happen sometime, though I'd just about given up hope." Emmett continued defending me… in his way.

Rosalie let go, but I could tell from the look in her eyes that her threat was far from idle. Our entire existence was predicated on our valuing human life and abstaining from causing them harm…even if we couldn't step in and save every human who might be in danger.

"You think I _want_ to hurt her? I demanded.

"It's all right, Edward…we know you don't," Jasper murmured, sending waves of reassurance and calm through our group. Rose stepped back and let Emmett take her into his embrace. I didn't blame her for the outburst. The very idea of one of us taking advantage of a fragile human in a sexual manner was guaranteed to trigger a reaction, considering her past.

"Maybe you should skip class and go see Carlisle," Emmett offered, clearly worried.

It was actually a reasonable suggestion, but every crystalline cell in my body reacted with outrage at the thought of being deprived of another opportunity to see the girl. Even as we spoke, I was rapidly moving from mind to mind, determined to keep her in view. Catching sight of her timetable through the eyes of Mike Newton, I noted with relief that we shared biology next class. When Newton's thoughts once again headed toward the gutter, I quickly exited his mind. Somehow I didn't think Rosalie would be quite as upset if she were to discover I planned on dismembering the boy—slowly and painfully.

"No, I'm fine now," I reassured the others, relieved none of them could read _my_ mind. Jasper eyed me warily, but I calmed myself and gave him a rueful smile. "Just a bit unexpected, but I've got it under control. I'll cough if I need you."

Vampires never _needed_ to cough, so it was a handy signal when we wanted to get each other's attention. It was a signal we rarely used, as Alice's abilities normally preempted any crisis...but our current situation was far from normal. Her recent difficulties had certainly brought home to all of us just how much we depended on our sister's talent. Right now I could have done with some insight—and foresight—though a small and highly irrational part of me was secretly pleased at Alice's inability to interfere…which made no sense. _What good could possibly come of this violent, bewildering attraction?_

As one we turned toward the doors when a young female teacher approached.

"Is everything all right here?" she asked nervously.

Alice smiled winningly and walked toward the teacher who backed up a step. "Yes, sorry we're running late. We had a little family drama to resolve."

"Oh, well...hurry along or you'll be at risk of, er…detention," the teacher scolded tentatively and then moved quickly away.

"I am _not_ sitting a detention over this, Edward, so get it together...fast," Rosalie hissed and headed toward the door, a sheepish Emmett in tow.

"Gotta go, bro. Just keep loose and think, er..._non-_sexy thoughts."

I growled and took a step in his direction. I'd had about all the helpful advice I could take from Emmett for one day.

"Forget it," Jasper urged, pulling me back. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

I nodded and we headed for the door. Repeating high school ad infinitum was one thing…sitting in detention another.

Despite the delay, I was the first student seated in biology and awaited Bella's arrival with uncharacteristic impatience. A century of days and sleepless nights inspired an appreciation for taking things in one's stride, but Isabella Swan's arrival had rattled my usually impervious composure. I watched her fumbling with the books in her locker through multiple eyes, irritated that she was still the center of attention while benefiting from the curiosity she inspired. My possessive feelings made no sense, but I was unwilling to delve too deeply into their source—or my intentions.

Drumming my fingers on the desk, I awaited her arrival, determined to prove to myself that my earlier reaction was a onetime aberration and that I had complete control over my physical responses. Then she stumbled through the classroom door, and my best intentions evaporated.

_~OB~_

_**Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all those who read, bookmarked and/or reviewed my first chapter! You cannot know how much encouragement that was for a timid, first-time FanFic author.**_

_**Reviews are... amazing. They don't have to be long. Just knowing you're following me on this journey is reward enough - though constructive feedback is always appreciated. :)**_

_**xxx TLS**_


	3. Ecstasy and Agony

_**Thanks to Stephanie Meyers for the Twiverse…and for letting us play with her wonderful characters. **_

_**Hearts and Kisses to my amazing Betas, SqueakyZorro and ChloeCougar, for teaching me more than I ever wanted to know about comma splices, em dashes, and ellipses (just kidding)—and for 'tweeting' my story out to all and sundry. You guys are fantastic! your support is a huge inspiration for me to keep writing. **_

_**A big thank you also to DeeDreamer, who along with SqueakyZorro, beta-ed this chapter via Project Team Beta before I found my permanent Betas.**_

_**I wasn't planning on posting this chapter quite yet, but I'm on such an All Things Twilight/Breaking Dawn/Robsten high after THAT teaser trailer (holy headboard!) and our favorite couple showing the love at the MMAs—that I just had to share the joy! **_

_**Posted: June 7th 2011  
>Words: 3604<strong>_

Chapter Three

Ecstasy and Agony

BPOV

Stumbling over my feet, I entered the biology class and looked up to see Edward Cullen watching me from his seat toward the back of the class.

Of course, he would witness me at my clumsy worst.

He smirked, and I ducked my head as I approached the teacher. At least Mr. Banner didn't torture me with a formal introduction to the class; he just handed me my books and directed me to the only spare seat in the room…next to Edward. Stifling a groan, I made my way to the space at his side with my head down to try and hide my flaming cheeks.

Relieved not to have fallen flat on my face, I climbed onto the stool before turning to face my new lab partner. Hoping to introduce myself with a modicum of grace, or at least, not totally embarrass myself, I forced my features into what I hoped was a pleasant, friendly smile. The expression on Edward's face put an end to that idea. He was staring at me with a look of absolute horror on his face, one hand covering his mouth and nose as if he smelled something truly offensive.

"Hi. I'm Bella..." My voice came out in a squeak then trailed away to nothing. I knew I wasn't in his league and hadn't really expected he'd want to be my friend, but neither had I expected him to act like I smelled bad.

Quickly turning, I faced the front and let my hair fall like a curtain between us. Tears of anger and disappointment stung my eyes, and I blinked them away, determined not to humiliate myself any further.

I sat frozen, barely registering a word of Mr. Banner's lecture other than his final instruction to work with our lab partners to complete the exercise in our text books. With a sigh, I turned to face the boy who had inspired my first ever bout of infatuation then cruelly crushed it to smithereens all in the space of an hour. He'd composed himself…a little, though he still looked very tense, one hand gripping tightly to the edge of the bench and the other fisted on his thigh. _Was he holding his breath?_ I sniffed my hair but all I could smell was my strawberry-scented shampoo.

He grimaced and lifted a hand toward me. "Bella, I apologize for my…_rudeness_. I…"

I waited to see how he would explain his behavior, but he skipped the explanation and went to a belated introduction.

"My name is Edward Cullen. It is a…pleasure to meet you," he said with surprising formality and obvious strain.

"Nice to meet you, too," I murmured quietly, edging away to offer him some relief.

What were the odds? The first time I met a boy I could imagine as more than a friend, and we were chemically incompatible…like pheromones in reverse.

_Serves me right for crushing above my station,_ I thought grumpily, annoyed with myself for acting like a character from a Jane Austen novel. Somehow, I didn't think my story would end as well as Elizabeth Bennett's.

Opening my biology book, I waited for Edward. But when he made no move to open his, I pushed mine to the middle so he could see it too…if he wanted. He reached hesitantly towards the page at the same time as I went to point out the section we needed, and our hands brushed together.

I gasped and pulled back. His hand was cold, but it was the bolt of electricity that jolted up my arm that caused my reaction. His too, if the way he flinched then froze in place was anything to go by.

"Are you…are you all right?" I asked when he remained completely still—he didn't even seem to be breathing—but he just continued to stare at my hand, ignoring my question.

Hesitantly and uncharacteristically boldly for me, I reached out again and touched his cool fingers with my own. I wondered if I would feel the odd electrical tingling again, and I did, but this time I tried not to react. Edward flinched again, so I pulled away but he reached out to catch my hand, his grip hard, strong, and incredibly fast.

"Edward?" I asked tentatively. I pulled against his grip, but his hand didn't budge a fraction, and I realized that I couldn't break his grip. He didn't look up, just kept staring at the skin on my wrist as he rubbed it with his fingers.

I wasn't sure what to do. He didn't seem bothered by my odor any more, but he wasn't exactly behaving normally. Neither Jessica nor Angela had mentioned anything about Edward having mental problems. But he was a Cullen, and Jake _had_ warned me to be careful.

_Okay…he's weird, but that doesn't mean he's dangerous_, I justified, trying to ignore the fluttering in my belly. I'd never considered myself shallow, but my conscience forced me to concede I might be influenced by his startling good-looks…a little.

Just as I was deciding to do the right thing—the _sensible _thing—and pull away more forcefully, he groaned and snatched his hand back, balling it into a fist on his thigh.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his head bowed. "You're so beautiful. You don't deserve this."

I frowned, blinking in confusion. _Beautiful? Did he just call me beautiful?_

"Umm...are you all right?" I asked again, keeping my voice to a whisper. "Do you want me to get the teacher...or something?"

He didn't answer or move, so I reached hesitantly toward him again, not exactly sure what I was planning on doing or how to help. But then he gasped in a sudden breath, opened his eyes, and pinned me with an intense, predatory stare. I flinched, embarrassed to be caught reaching out to him, but before I could pull my hand back, he snatched it with an impossibly quick blur of movement. I blinked, my eyes clearly playing tricks on me.

My heart stuttered for the second time that day, as he brought my wrist close to his mouth. I gasped. It looked like he was going to kiss the inside of my arm, which was beyond strange but maybe kind of cool...I was undecided. I waited, anticipating the touch of his mouth against my skin while my breathing accelerated and my heart raced.

Just when I thought I was right, and this most beautiful of boys was about to kiss the inside of my wrist, his lips curled back from his dazzlingly white teeth, his mouth stretched wide, and to my complete and utter disbelief...he _bit_ me! His teeth cut through my skin like butter, and his mouth latched onto my wrist!

I stared, dumbfounded, at the inexplicable sight of Edward Cullen's teeth sunk into my flesh as he sucked and drank my blood.

At first, I didn't react...frozen in stunned disbelief.

_Was this some kind of a joke,_ I wondered, a_ prank on the new girl?_

But then the pain of Edward's bite registered in my bewildered brain…and a far, far worse pain began to burn like fire up my arm...and I realized that this was no joke but agonizingly real.

The sound of my screams followed me as I descended into hell.

_~OB~_

EPOV

_No, no, no, no, no, no!_

Not _her!_

I'd actually smiled when she'd stumbled into the classroom, hiding her blushing cheeks behind her hair while she made her way to the only vacant seat in the room…at my side. She was so damned adorable and even prettier in person than the myriad images I'd already stored in my memory. I couldn't take my eyes off her. But then she passed in front of a cursed pedestal fan, and the breeze lifted her hair, wafting her scent toward me.

It hit with the force of a wrecking ball.

I'd heard of singers, the one human amongst the multitude whose scent 'called' to us like no others, but I'd never experienced the lure of one personally. I should have run, at any speed, the second I realized my attraction to her was not merely physical…well, in the human sense. For a vampire I was experiencing the ultimate physical attraction. But I didn't. I'd never wanted a human's blood so much.

What arrogance to think my years of abstinence meant I was above temptation. What fools we were to continue our human charade without Alice's visions to warn us of impending danger and risk.

I cursed my animalistic nature, all but overwhelmed by the self-loathing that had been my constant companion these many decades. But regardless of my inner turmoil, I didn't plan to give in without a fight. Little by little, I clawed back control over my inner beast...slowly...agonizingly winning the battle against the predator that raged to be released—or so I thought.

Then the innocent girl beside me, who had the unbelievable misfortune of having the most appetizing smelling blood I'd ever encountered, asked in a voice filled with compassion if she could get help…for _me_. Determined to leave and spare her life at any cost, I opened my mouth to signal my siblings with a cough,the only one's who could help me. Too late, I realized the folly of my action as I inhaled her scent deep into my lungs, the tantalizing aroma assaulting my weakened senses.

My eyes snapped open, the scene before me tinged by a haze of red.

Bella's silent mind had denied me the foreknowledge of her intentions, and her wrist hovered before me, her wide-eyed gaze focused on my face. While I could not hear her thoughts, I registered the confusion on her beautiful face, her rapid breathing, and the erratic pounding of her heart. But none of it mattered. The _only_ thing that mattered was the utterly irresistible blood pulsing through the vein mere inches from my venom-filled mouth.

I barely remembered biting her, my monstrous actions all but blotted out by the rapturous taste of her blood. The room and its occupants faded as euphoria overcame my senses, shutting out reason, conscience, everything—including the sound of Bella's screams and the pandemonium that erupted around us. I'd drunk from countless humans during the years of my rebellion, but nothing had come remotely close to the exotic flavor, the sweet, drugging taste of the blood that filled my mouth. Sucking deep, I drew her hot, sweet blood between my teeth and felt it coursing down my throat as with fierce, determined gulps I drank my fill.

She was a slight girl, her lifeblood would soon be gone, and I grieved the imminent loss of the ambrosial fluid. Too caught up in my bloodlust and too removed from the remnants of my humanity...I did not consider the loss of her actual life.

I'd come close to draining her dry when something—_someone—_forced my mouth open and pulled me away from my prize. As I roared my frustration, I was hit by a force that propelled me straight through the wall of the science building, landing me a hundred feet away on the roof of a car and flattening it beyond recognition. Before I could react to this unexpected assault, I was lifted bodily and flown beyond the school grounds and into the forest. I struggled, desperate to get back to the classroom before someone else stole what was mine, _my _blood_, _the last drops of pure ecstasy I would ever find. But I couldn't move. A dead-weight pinned me spread-eagled to the ground.

I'd always known Emmett was strong, but my ability to read his mind and predict his movements had balanced the scales…until now. Lost in a world of utter bliss, I'd never even heard him coming.

"Don't move," he growled in my ear when I continued to struggle.

Dazed and disoriented, I was far from thinking clearly but knew enough to comply. There was something terribly wrong. Emmett's thoughts were too jumbled to be of much help, so I spread my range outwards, back toward the school…and registered the screaming.

"Oh, God…" I whispered.

"Yeah, well, it's a bit late to go calling on _his_ help," Emmett grumbled, while continuing to pin me down.

The screams continued their assault on my sanity from a multitude of voices and minds. Then they were silenced, momentarily drowned out by the first in a series of explosions, each one louder and more deafening than the last.

Jasper and Alice were blowing up the science block, quite possibly half the school by the sound of the destruction.

"Let me up…let me help!" I demanded, desperation giving my struggles new zeal.

"Think you've done enough, buddy." Emmett's tone was gruff but rueful, and he didn't budge an inch.

"I'm all right. I'm under control now," I lied. I wasn't even close to being calm or one hundred percent sure what was happening. But I was fairly certain my family were risking themselves for me, and I couldn't stand the idea of not being there to help.

"They _need_ us, Em," I pleaded.

He hesitated for a moment then pulled back, letting me rise. But before I could move off, he grabbed my arm.

"_You_ can't help." He shook his head sadly.

I frowned and opened my mouth to argue.

"Your _eyes,_ Edward…"

I staggered back, coming down from my high as my mind cleared and my memory returned with a vengeance. My eyes must have already turned red. The color change happened almost instantaneously when we drank human blood yet took weeks to dissipate.

My knees buckled, and I collapsed on the ground, curling over in agony at the realization of what I'd done…to sweet, beautiful Isabella Swan, to my family, and God only knew what to the innocent children of Forks.

"You going to be all right?" Emmett asked, while I lay moaning on the ground.

I shuddered. My lack of self control had gotten us into this mess, and I would not allow my self-pity to make matters worse.

"You go…help, do what you can. I'll wait here until…" I had no idea what I was going to do, or what I was waiting for.

"You sure?" Emmett seemed reluctant to leave, but I didn't deserve his sympathy. Or maybe he was just concerned that I shouldn't be left unsupervised and that given the chance I would wreak more havoc.

"Just go," I growled. and he nodded and then took off toward the disaster area that was Forks High School.

_~OB~_

Time passed, and I lay immobile, the sounds and fragmented images assaulting my mind eventually rousing me from my stupor. Moving closer to the edge of the forest, I skimmed from mind to mind, reliving the trauma, watching the catastrophe unfold, and piecing together the sequence of events.

It had taken a while for the other students in our class to register that I was biting Bella's arm. Some had even leaped to the conclusion that she'd been bitten by a snake, and I was trying to suck out the venom.

In reality, I was far more poisonous than any serpent.

My siblings' arrival using superhuman speed, my mouth being pried open, and Emmett taking me out through the wall had all been perceived by the humans as an incomprehensible blur of motion. Added to this, Jasper had projected panic, confusion, and fear in a wide ranging arc affecting maximum numbers, far more than he'd ever attempted before.

The first explosion Alice triggered did relatively minor damage. Broken glass and flying debris inflicted only cuts and bruises on the students in the room but triggered wholesale panic. The biology and surrounding classes had emptied with surprising speed, and to my limited relief, I saw that the subsequent explosions had occurred _after_ the buildings were cleared. The only loss of life assumed at this stage was Chief Swan's daughter—and myself. How my family was going to explain my bizarre behavior from _before_ the explosions was sure to be a challenge.

I searched for Alice and Jasper and silently applauded their plan. They'd managed to plant the idea in impressionable minds that gas had been smelled _before_ the first, minor explosion—one that Alice had triggerec by combining chemicals she'd found in the cleaning cupboard. The following and far more devastating explosions were easily triggered by tapping into the gas lines that ran to the science lab.

Alice's and Jasper's quick thinking might just have achieved the impossible and covered up my outrageous breach of vampire protocol…and sanity.

Slumping back to the ground, I let my head drop to my hands.

_I couldn't get the taste and scent of her out of my mind!_

Her blood, the incredible, exotic flavor lingered on my taste buds, and I craved it still…I craved _more. _But there would never, _could _never, be more. I wanted to weep, at that loss and all the others that would be experienced from this day.

Beautiful Bella, the only girl I'd felt _anything_ for, other than family affection, in a century of existence…and I'd killed her. I would have given anything to walk down into the inferno and let the flames consume me, but I didn't deserve the reprieve from my shame and guilt. What I'd done would bring untold grief and chaos into my family's lives, and I knew that my taking what for me would be the easy way out would only bring them more.

Esme appeared through the trees, her face drawn with grief.

"Oh, Edward," she whispered, flitting to my side and drawing me into her embrace.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I sobbed against her shoulder.

"I know, I know…but you need to be strong. We have to think of what's best for Bella, now. She's going to need all of us to help her through this. You're going to have to pull yourself together."

I pulled back and frowned at the woman who'd been both friend, sister, and mother to me for the equivalent of several generations.

"Bella's not dead, Edward. She's…changing," Esme explained, and I staggered back, coming up hard against a tree trunk and causing it to shudder from the impact.

"But…but…I _drained_ her."

"Rose got her to Carlisle in time. He managed to get enough blood into her veins for her heart to keep beating. The venom's doing the rest now, but she's got a long way to go."

I collapsed to my knees, overwhelmed by a wild surge of terror…and hope.

Bella wasn't dead.

Bella was going to be one of us.

Bella was going to hate me with all the passion and fury a newborn vampire could muster.

Dropping my head in my hands, I moaned, but then I heard Alice approaching, her thoughts far from sympathetic.

"Time to man up, Edward," she rebuked me with unsurprising asperity. She was normally my greatest champion, but I knew better than to expect her support this day.

I looked up to see her eyeing me coolly, her normally perfect appearance marred by a head-to-toe covering of grime and soot.

She was right. It was time I faced up to what I had done. Standing, I was surprised at the faint tremor in my limbs—a far from normal occurrence for a vampire.

"Just tell me what to do," I implored.

"Go home. She's in the room below the basement...just don't _attack_ any more townsfolk on the way. I've had enough of covering up your messes for one day."

I nodded hesitantly, unused to being on the receiving end of Alice's seldom-seen ire, though if there was ever a time that I deserved it, this was it. I looked toward home, my stomach clenching with trepidation at what I would find.

"You'll have to go alone, Edward," Esme murmured with touching sympathy. She really was the most unconditionally loving person I'd ever known, though far from a pushover. She knew I would punish myself far more harshly than anyone else, so didn't see the need to add to my castigation.

"Carlisle's at the school, treating the injured...minor, so far," she clarified, when I spun back to face her. "I have to be seen to be the grieving mother. You and Bella are the only two unaccounted for."

"What about the lack of bodies?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"I wouldn't worry," Alice retorted dryly. "That's one fire that's not going out any time soon. We'll plant a few bone fragments and what have you to keep the authorities happy."

I nodded, grateful for Alice's and Jasper's efficiency but acutely aware that the main authority in town was currently attempting to come to terms with the tragic loss of his daughter.

"I…I'd better go." I swallowed hard and turned to head for home, planning to stay hidden in the forest.

"Edward, I need to warn you," Alice called, and I looked back, too bewildered to retrieve the information directly from her thoughts. "Rosalie wants your head…separated from your body."

I nodded. It was unwise to underestimate Rosalie, and I could hardly blame her for wanting my destruction. She _had_ warned me.

"The only reason she's agreed to allow you anywhere near Bella is because we have to show solidarity and appear together in public at the school. You're the only one available to stay with her," Alice continued, her voice somber and her thoughts deadly serious. "Rose is _very _annoyed that she has to pretend to be the grieving sister, so watch your back."

I nodded and took off running, my mind a tumult of conflicting emotions.

_~OB~_

_**Well, what do you think? Good? Bad? Getting interesting? Utterly insane?**_

_**Next chapter - Edward comforting Bella through the change. Be prepared for some more 'tweaks of the Twiverse' as Bella manages to let Edward know **_**exactly**_** what she needs.**_

_**xxx TLSue**_


	4. Watching Waiting Worrying

**Stephanie Meyer created the Twiverse; I just get to tweak it a little.**

**Thank you to my Betas, ChloeCougar and SqueakyZorro. I wouldn't be here without you!**

**A special thank you to theswandive who helped Beta this chapter via Project Team Beta, before I received my permanent Betas.**

**Minor tweak of the Twiverse in this chapter:**

**I know SM's vamps don't need to bathe as their vampire skin repels dirt - weird that, if you ask me - but clothing absorbs sweat and dirt and surely hair needs washing and detangling occasionally? Besides, there is just so much fun to be had in the shower or the bath or the spa…later, of course. ;)**

**Posted: 10th June 2011 - 'cos I'm totally AR and like to know these things.  
>Words: 3623 – again, blame the ARness.<strong>

Chapter 4

Watching…Waiting…Worrying…

EPOV

I'd almost reached home before I heard the screams. The house was one we'd lived in before, but not for a very long time. A sprawling, white-painted timber dwelling; it was situated in the middle of a field, hidden away in a large tract of forest that the family owned. Some months back, Alice had insisted we build a soundproof room below the basement. She'd been unable to tell us when or more importantly _why_ the room would be needed.

Clearly, we should have asked a few more questions at the time.

Of course, soundproofing didn't prevent Bella's screams from reaching _our_ ears, but a human could be standing in the room above the basement and not hear a thing. I did not find much comfort in that knowledge.

The wolves would probably hear if they got close enough to the house, but that would require them coming onto our land which was highly unlikely unless they suspected the treaty had been broken—as it had, in spectacular fashion—but they didn't know that...yet.

As I approached the house, Rosalie's mental tirade of violent retribution broke through my distraction. Not that I blamed her. Utterly cowed as I was by the sound of Bella's screams, I chose not to evade the fist that Rosalie aimed directly at my mid-section as soon as I stepped through the door. Doubled over by the blow to my blood filled stomach, I barely registered the stinging slap to my face that followed.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," she hissed, when I straightened up to face her. "But someone needs to stay with Bella while we cover for your sorry ass. You are the _last_ person she needs…but you're all we've got."

"I know, I understand," I said, holding out my hands in surrender. "I won't hurt her."

"You won't hurt her _anymore_, you mean. What else could you possibly do to the girl?"

Hanging my head in shame, I flinched as Bella's screams reached a piercing crescendo. Rosalie looked toward the basement door, her angry thoughts fading as she was overwhelmed by concern for the human girl lying helplessly below, consumed with the worst agony imaginable.

"Just go…do what you can," she uttered despondently. "It's not like she's got a choice in the matter. I should have let her die…"

"No! You did the right thing," I contradicted her, panicked by the thought. "Thank you for saving her."

Rage returned instantly to the forefront of Rosalie's mind. "I didn't do this for you_, Eddie_," she spat, using the nickname I hated as she pushed past me out the door. With a look that should have turned me to stone, if it wasn't already too late for that, she left me to the task of watching over Bella. It was a fitting punishment but one that felt remarkably like a highly undeserved reward. I _still_ felt the draw calling me inexorably to Bella's side despite the fact I could no longer drink what remained of her blood, tainted as it was by my venom flowing through her veins.

Opening the door to the hidden room below the basement, I knew and dreaded what I would find. I'd been through this before, though decades earlier, having been there when Carlisle changed first Esme, then Rose, and finally Emmett. Of course, he'd been acting to save their lives, as he'd done again by transfusing Bella so she could live long enough to allow my venom to change her.

I crossed to where the beautiful girl, who scant hours earlier had been in perfect, vibrant health, now lay writhing on a mattress on the floor. Her hair was matted with perspiration and her clothing soaked through with sweat. Crouching down beside her, I softly crooned her name, knowing full well that nothing I said or did would make one iota of difference to her excruciating suffering…suffering that I had caused.

"Oh, Bella," I whispered, overcome with remorse. "I'm so, so sorry."

Her cries quieted as if she had heard me...which was impossible. I hesitated for a moment, and she began screaming again.

"Bella? Does it help if I talk to you?" I kept my tone gentle so as not to alarm her if she could hear me, but I couldn't completely hide the surge of hope that rose up within me.

Her cries subsided immediately, so I quickly sat down beside her and began to talk.

"It's all right…everything's going to be okay." I told her. "This part is horrible, and I'm so sorry I did this to you. It's unforgivable, and I know you're going to hate me. You have every right to hate me, but I'm here for you, Bella. Anything you want from me, anything at all…"

I knew I was rambling but it seemed to be working, so I continued: apologizing, explaining, reassuring. Every time I ran out of words her cries increased in volume, so I told her everything: every story, every anecdote, every remotely interesting event I could recall from my century of existence.

At one point, I reached out to carefully stroke her hand, but she flinched and cried out in agony. So I snatched my hand away, apologized profusely, and stuck to words. I was still talking, lying beside Bella and murmuring in her ear, when my family returned in the middle of the night and entered the room, one by one, to watch us silently.

"Jasper?" Carlisle queried, wanting answers. Jasper had seen hundreds of transformations in his time as commander of a newborn army.

"She's in pain, of course, but amazingly calm. Edward's voice is soothing her. I've never seen anything like it before," he whispered in reply.

"I don't like it," Rosalie muttered, not that I blamed her. Keeping up the same soothing tone I'd used for the last few hours, I explained how I'd come to be lying beside Bella, worrying I was boring her senseless with my barrage of words.

"No, it's helping…don't stop," Jasper encouraged.

"Let me take over," Rosalie demanded. "I doubt Bella will be thrilled when she finds out she was comforted by the man who tried to kill her."

I flinched at her words but complied, moving away so that Rosalie could take my place. Immediately, she began talking to Bella in the same soothing tone I'd used. But it didn't work, and Bella began to thrash and writhe, her agonizing cries returning with a vengeance.

"No, it's you, Edward. It's your voice that soothes her." Jasper directed, and I quickly traded places with my reluctant and highly insulted sister. It took several minutes of crooning words before Bella's cries reduced to soft whimpers once again.

"This isn't right," Rose hissed.

"No, it's not," I agreed, keeping up the same gentle tone, "And you're right…she will hate me for what I've done. But for now this is helping, so…"

Rosalie glared at me, and then turned away. She was sickened by the sight of me—not that I blamed her. My self-loathing was increasing exponentially, as I absorbed the horrifying replay of events from my family's thoughts.

The injuries at the school were worse than I'd expected. Mr. Banner had a badly broken arm and a serious laceration to his forehead. He'd been determined to go back into the inferno when he'd realized Bella and I were missing, his injuries caused by Jasper restraining him. The amount of force required to hold him was testament to the teacher's determination to save his students.

There seemed to be a disproportionate number of head injuries and concussions amongst the students from my class. And I gleaned that Jasper had taken it upon himself to inflict minor but incapacitating injuries on those students who stuck to the story that they'd seen me _biting_ Bella before the first explosion.

I could only imagine the personal cost to Carlisle of any one of us causing, or exacerbating, the injuries he then went on to treat, and he had quickly put a stop to Jasper's zealous but understandable actions. Fortunately, such extreme measures were unnecessary, as Carlisle was able to incorporate the judicious use of a mild anesthetic into his treatment of any 'suspect' students, a convenient side effect of which was its tendency to wipe traumatic memories from the mind. Between the concussions and medication, the chances that any eye witnesses would clearly recall my actions were extremely slim.

In every mind, I saw the look of devastation on Chief Swan's face as he came to the realization that his daughter hadn't made it out of the flames. The looks of pity and sympathy the townsfolk sent toward my family for _my_ supposed loss only added to my shame.

Another face appeared repeatedly in my family's thoughts: a young Quileute, who I assumed by his size must have already made the transformation to wolf. He was consumed with grief…and fury, and Jasper had kept his eye on the boy as he'd been led away by Sam Uley, the leader of the current wolf pack. The boy had barely made it to the treeline before phasing, exploding out of his clothes, and then running off, howling into the distance.

"A friend of Bella's?" I asked softly.

"Boyfriend," Jasper replied succinctly.

"Bella has a boyfriend?" My family's thoughts mirrored my startled query, though none of them reacted in quite the way I did. Venom pooled in my mouth, and a low growl rumbled in my chest.

"Well, _he_ feels that way…" Jasper shrugged, a look of sympathy on his face.

It didn't matter, other than in the way it might affect Bella. I had _no_ rights where this girl was concerned.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Jasper murmured, dropping to crouch beside me.

"Oh, please," Rosalie muttered and stalked out. If it wasn't for the fact that Bella seemed to need me, my sister would have taken great delight in removing several of my limbs before leaving.

"Jasper is right," Alice said softly, as she came to kneel beside me. "From what I can see, you're going to be a big part of Bella's future."

"That's because she's going to hate me for all eternity," I murmured, the tone of my voice at complete odds with the content. "You only have to look at Rose to know what will happen."

"Not necessarily," Carlisle and Esme said in unison.

"Rose's personality had as significant a part to play as the events preceding her change in forming her vampire character," Carlisle continued. "You'll just have to wait and see with Isabella. She might surprise you."

My siblings had informed Carlisle of my initial reaction to Bella in the cafeteria. I'd been so bewildered, protective…aroused, but that was all irrelevant now.

One by one, my family members left the room to clean off the dirt and smell of the disaster. There was still much to discuss, in particular what to do about the wolf pack and their legitimate suspicions, but they needed time to process events and find reassurance with their mates. Times like this I usually spent alone, but Bella needed me…so I kept talking.

~OB~

The next two days passed with agonizing slowness. Little by little, Bella's humanity leeched away, overwhelmed by the spreading vampirism as my venom took hold. Her beautiful blush slowly faded as her tissues crystallized, the skin hardening to a perfect, impervious sheen, her lovely hair strengthening but changing little in terms of color and texture.

I dreaded the sound of her bones breaking, stretching, elongating. She'd not necessarily gain any extra height, but her body would be perfectly proportioned so as to make her an irresistible lure. And, of course, there would be other, more intimate, changes. Her already perfectly shaped form would be subtly enhanced: larger breasts, smaller waist, faultlessly proportioned curves and angles, though none of the changes would be dramatic in the mold of human makeovers which created truly monstrous results. At a glance, Bella would still be Bella just...more.

My family came and went, sitting with us for a while and offering mostly silent support. All but Esme and Rosalie found preposterous reasons to apologize. Emmett and Jasper went first, blaming my loss of control on the bet we'd had going to see who could go the longest without feeding, though I assured them that I doubted it played a significant role in my relapse. Alice apologized for her loss of foresight and lack of warning.

"I'm so sorry, Edward," she whispered, heartbroken. "I just didn't see until it was too late. Jasper had already started to pick up the emotional disturbance when I got my first glimpse of what was going to happen—I mean, what was already happening."

To distract us both we analyzed the scenes she had seen earlier in the cafeteria. Some of them made a little more sense now, though neither of us had realized that the Bella we'd seen running, climbing, and hanging from the side of a very high cliff was, of course, a vampire. How we missed the transformation in the image of her emerging bikini-clad from the water was a mystery to us both. It was so apparently clear…now. Alice assured me that I was not to be held accountable for that slip, grappling as I was with my first experience of overwhelming lust. We actually laughed at that…for a moment, then both our attentions returned to the beautiful girl lying still and mostly silent beside us.

Carlisle's apology caught me by surprise, as he blamed himself for putting me in the untenable situation in the first place.

We'd all heard of singers, of course, Emmett having come across one many years before. That hadn't ended well either. But Carlisle had hoped that as time passed and we became more experienced at practicing restraint, we would no longer be vulnerable to temptation, even the _extreme _temptation of a singer.

"It was arrogant and foolish of me to take such risks," he offered sadly. "We will need to seriously reassess how we choose to conduct ourselves in the future."

I could hear the hope in his thoughts that he was unable to hide, that this situation would actually work out for the best and Bella would be to me what Esme was to him. He was right, in the sense that there would never be another girl for me, but I did not share his hope that the situation would turn out well.

Early in the morning on the third day, Esme, Alice, and Rosalie came to me with a request. They wanted to give Bella a bath and change her clothes and bedding. I protested vehemently. Yes, the room and our clothes stank to high heaven, but I couldn't bear the thought of inflicting any more pain on her than she was already enduring.

"The slightest touch is agony," I argued.

I couldn't believe they didn't remember. Not even close to a century could dull that memory in my mind. Carlisle had been forced to move me halfway through the change when my screams had begun to attract attention. He'd also realized that he needed to take me to a remote location, or I was going to awaken too close to human dwellings overwhelmed with bloodlust. It had been the right choice. He'd never have been able to control me by himself if I'd gotten the scent of human blood, not with my added newborn strength and speed to contend with.

We made sure the subsequent changes of our family members occurred in as remote locations as possible, which still necessitated their being moved after the initial bite, but at least it was early in the transformation.

"She's a woman, Edward," Esme pleaded. "She won't want to wake up to that smell with her enhanced senses. I can still remember the horror of it…we all can."

I stared at them in surprise. This wasn't something Esme or Rosalie had mentioned before or that I'd ever picked up from their thoughts.

"You too, Alice?" I asked, not having been there when she was changed.

"Oh yes." She shuddered. "I barely knew my own name and had no memory of my life before awakening, but the first thing I wanted—almost before blood—was a long, hot shower."

"We've got some ideas of how to do this," Rosalie added. I could hear in her thoughts how annoyed she was to have to plead her case, but she couldn't help being relieved that anything at all had eased Bella's suffering…even me.

I nodded, all the while keeping up the soft melody I was crooning close to Bella's ear. I'd taken to singing after I'd recited all my favorite passages from all my favorite plays, poems, and stories—in several languages. Emmett gave me grief for my 'dirgy' singing voice while Jasper called it 'soulful.' The others refrained from comment...verbally. I didn't care. Bella seemed to like it, though I couldn't know for sure, and I wondered if it would have been better or immeasurably worse if I'd been able to read her mind as she was changing.

"We'll do it here…give her a sponge bath and change her while you keep singing," Esme explained their plans.

My eyebrows rose, and I looked from one to the other in disbelief.

"Just look away, Edward," Rosalie retorted, her tone snarky. "I'm sure you can give her that much privacy."

They seemed to be forgetting that whatever they saw would be transmitted loud and clear in their thoughts.

"It's not as if you haven't seen us all through our partner's minds…and doing more than just bathing," Alice admonished.

If vampires could blush, my face would have been blazing. I gave my family as much privacy as my gift allowed, heading away from home and out of range whenever possible. But it was impossible to completely avoid seeing and hearing the couples together. Even without mindreading ability, vampires had to learn to live with a reduced level of privacy if they chose to live in any sort of community.

"It's different with her," I murmured, unable to meet their knowing gazes. "I don't want to take advantage."

Rosalie snorted, and I reacted…finally.

"Look, enough already, Rose," I hissed. "You think I don't know what I did was unforgivable and that I've destroyed any chance I had at a relationship with the only girl I'm ever going to care about? I know you want to kill me, in fact I hope you do; you have my permission once Bella is…settled. I'll welcome the chance to be put out of my misery, but please…give it a rest and let's focus on what's best for Bella!"

Rosalie glared at me, her thoughts conflicted, before nodding once. "I'll be leaving you alive, Edward," she responded calmly. "It will be the greater punishment."

I didn't dispute Rosalie's assessment, but looked toward Esme to offer her what reassurance I could. She was very distressed by my words and Rosalie's attitude, but unsure how to help.

"You're sure you need to do this?" I murmured, crooning nonsense to Bella during the lulls in our conversation.

All three women nodded, and I sighed. "Could you bring some clothes for me while you're at it?" I'd need to change as well or any benefit, in terms of odor, would be short-lived. I'd avoided spilling any of Bella's blood onto my hands or clothes, unwilling to waste a single drop. But she'd bled a little after Emmett and Rose had torn me away, and the scent of her blood and sweat had permeated the fibers of my dust and dirt covered clothing as I'd lain beside her.

They agreed and rushed away, returning too soon for my liking.

It was a painful process for us all. Bella's soft whimpers turned quickly to anguished cries, and my heart ached, along with the hand that she'd latched onto, her strengthening grip grinding the bones together.

I focused on her beautiful face, washing away the residue of tears, sweat, and blood, while the girls undressed, washed, and redressed her. Her eyes fluttered open a few times, revealing the startlingly red irises of a newborn vampire, and I mourned the loss of her warm brown eyes. Of her naked body, I saw only a few fleeting glances as I focused intently on Bella's face and my first memory of her in the cafeteria.

The girls helped to preserve as much of Bella's privacy as possible by blocking their thoughts: Alice by singing the national anthem in Afrikaans, Esme reciting recipes from her favorite cooking shows, and Rosalie mentally rebuilding a classic mustang. I appreciated their efforts.

Once Bella was clean and changed into fresh clothing, I took a turn to clean up, a considerable challenge as now that Bella had hold of my hand she had no intention of letting go.

The sight of our joined hands filled me with awe, the feel of her soft, smooth skin stirring an aching tenderness within me. Lying beside Bella, _touching _her, induced a peace within me that I had never imagined possible. I could only hope that my touch brought her a similar feeling of comfort, that's if she was able to fee anything other than the excruciating agony of her body being forcibly transformed from human to vampire.

Alice had seen the exact time that Bella's heart would take its final beat, though why she saw this clearly and had missed so many other crucial events was still a mystery.

As the minutes ticked by I studied Bella's beautiful face, absorbing every detail…every flickering emotion. I wanted her suffering to end but dreaded the moment when her need for me would surely turn to disgust and bitter hatred.

She would never forgive me for what I'd done to her.

_~OB~_

**Thanks for all your kind and encouraging reviews. They make a new writer's day. :D**

**Personally, I just love, smitten, angst-ridden Guiltward. I love the way he adores her from the start and sees only perfection, even in her human form. Guess that's why I wrote it that way…**

**xxx TLSue**

**Stephanie Meyer created the Twiverse; I just get to tweak it a little.**

**Thank you to my Betas, ChloeCougar and SqueakyZorro. I wouldn't be here without you!**

**A special thank you to theswandive who helped Beta this chapter via Project Team Beta, before I received my permanent Betas.**

**Minor tweak of the Twiverse in this chapter:**

**I know SM's vamps don't need to bathe as their vampire skin repels dirt - weird that, if you ask me - but clothing absorbs sweat and dirt and surely hair needs washing and detangling occasionally? Besides, there is just so much fun to be had in the shower or the bath or the spa…later, of course. ;)**

**Posted: 10th June 2011 - 'cos I'm totally AR and like to know these things.  
>Words: 3623 – again, blame the ARness.<strong>

Chapter 4

Watching…Waiting…Worrying…

EPOV

I'd almost reached home before I heard the screams. The house was one we'd lived in before, but not for a very long time. A sprawling, white-painted timber dwelling; it was situated in the middle of a field, hidden away in a large tract of forest that the family owned. Some months back, Alice had insisted we build a soundproof room below the basement. She'd been unable to tell us when or more importantly _why_ the room would be needed.

Clearly, we should have asked a few more questions at the time.

Of course, soundproofing didn't prevent Bella's screams from reaching _our_ ears, but a human could be standing in the room above the basement and not hear a thing. I did not find much comfort in that knowledge.

The wolves would probably hear if they got close enough to the house, but that would require them coming onto our land which was highly unlikely unless they suspected the treaty had been broken—as it had, in spectacular fashion—but they didn't know that...yet.

As I approached the house, Rosalie's mental tirade of violent retribution broke through my distraction. Not that I blamed her. Utterly cowed as I was by the sound of Bella's screams, I chose not to evade the fist that Rosalie aimed directly at my mid-section as soon as I stepped through the door. Doubled over by the blow to my blood filled stomach, I barely registered the stinging slap to my face that followed.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," she hissed, when I straightened up to face her. "But someone needs to stay with Bella while we cover for your sorry ass. You are the _last_ person she needs…but you're all we've got."

"I know, I understand," I said, holding out my hands in surrender. "I won't hurt her."

"You won't hurt her _anymore_, you mean. What else could you possibly do to the girl?"

Hanging my head in shame, I flinched as Bella's screams reached a piercing crescendo. Rosalie looked toward the basement door, her angry thoughts fading as she was overwhelmed by concern for the human girl lying helplessly below, consumed with the worst agony imaginable.

"Just go…do what you can," she uttered despondently. "It's not like she's got a choice in the matter. I should have let her die…"

"No! You did the right thing," I contradicted her, panicked by the thought. "Thank you for saving her."

Rage returned instantly to the forefront of Rosalie's mind. "I didn't do this for you_, Eddie_," she spat, using the nickname I hated as she pushed past me out the door. With a look that should have turned me to stone, if it wasn't already too late for that, she left me to the task of watching over Bella. It was a fitting punishment but one that felt remarkably like a highly undeserved reward. I _still_ felt the draw calling me inexorably to Bella's side despite the fact I could no longer drink what remained of her blood, tainted as it was by my venom flowing through her veins.

Opening the door to the hidden room below the basement, I knew and dreaded what I would find. I'd been through this before, though decades earlier, having been there when Carlisle changed first Esme, then Rose, and finally Emmett. Of course, he'd been acting to save their lives, as he'd done again by transfusing Bella so she could live long enough to allow my venom to change her.

I crossed to where the beautiful girl, who scant hours earlier had been in perfect, vibrant health, now lay writhing on a mattress on the floor. Her hair was matted with perspiration and her clothing soaked through with sweat. Crouching down beside her, I softly crooned her name, knowing full well that nothing I said or did would make one iota of difference to her excruciating suffering…suffering that I had caused.

"Oh, Bella," I whispered, overcome with remorse. "I'm so, so sorry."

Her cries quieted as if she had heard me...which was impossible. I hesitated for a moment, and she began screaming again.

"Bella? Does it help if I talk to you?" I kept my tone gentle so as not to alarm her if she could hear me, but I couldn't completely hide the surge of hope that rose up within me.

Her cries subsided immediately, so I quickly sat down beside her and began to talk.

"It's all right…everything's going to be okay." I told her. "This part is horrible, and I'm so sorry I did this to you. It's unforgivable, and I know you're going to hate me. You have every right to hate me, but I'm here for you, Bella. Anything you want from me, anything at all…"

I knew I was rambling but it seemed to be working, so I continued: apologizing, explaining, reassuring. Every time I ran out of words her cries increased in volume, so I told her everything: every story, every anecdote, every remotely interesting event I could recall from my century of existence.

At one point, I reached out to carefully stroke her hand, but she flinched and cried out in agony. So I snatched my hand away, apologized profusely, and stuck to words. I was still talking, lying beside Bella and murmuring in her ear, when my family returned in the middle of the night and entered the room, one by one, to watch us silently.

"Jasper?" Carlisle queried, wanting answers. Jasper had seen hundreds of transformations in his time as commander of a newborn army.

"She's in pain, of course, but amazingly calm. Edward's voice is soothing her. I've never seen anything like it before," he whispered in reply.

"I don't like it," Rosalie muttered, not that I blamed her. Keeping up the same soothing tone I'd used for the last few hours, I explained how I'd come to be lying beside Bella, worrying I was boring her senseless with my barrage of words.

"No, it's helping…don't stop," Jasper encouraged.

"Let me take over," Rosalie demanded. "I doubt Bella will be thrilled when she finds out she was comforted by the man who tried to kill her."

I flinched at her words but complied, moving away so that Rosalie could take my place. Immediately, she began talking to Bella in the same soothing tone I'd used. But it didn't work, and Bella began to thrash and writhe, her agonizing cries returning with a vengeance.

"No, it's you, Edward. It's your voice that soothes her." Jasper directed, and I quickly traded places with my reluctant and highly insulted sister. It took several minutes of crooning words before Bella's cries reduced to soft whimpers once again.

"This isn't right," Rose hissed.

"No, it's not," I agreed, keeping up the same gentle tone, "And you're right…she will hate me for what I've done. But for now this is helping, so…"

Rosalie glared at me, and then turned away. She was sickened by the sight of me—not that I blamed her. My self-loathing was increasing exponentially, as I absorbed the horrifying replay of events from my family's thoughts.

The injuries at the school were worse than I'd expected. Mr. Banner had a badly broken arm and a serious laceration to his forehead. He'd been determined to go back into the inferno when he'd realized Bella and I were missing, his injuries caused by Jasper restraining him. The amount of force required to hold him was testament to the teacher's determination to save his students.

There seemed to be a disproportionate number of head injuries and concussions amongst the students from my class. And I gleaned that Jasper had taken it upon himself to inflict minor but incapacitating injuries on those students who stuck to the story that they'd seen me _biting_ Bella before the first explosion.

I could only imagine the personal cost to Carlisle of any one of us causing, or exacerbating, the injuries he then went on to treat, and he had quickly put a stop to Jasper's zealous but understandable actions. Fortunately, such extreme measures were unnecessary, as Carlisle was able to incorporate the judicious use of a mild anesthetic into his treatment of any 'suspect' students, a convenient side effect of which was its tendency to wipe traumatic memories from the mind. Between the concussions and medication, the chances that any eye witnesses would clearly recall my actions were extremely slim.

In every mind, I saw the look of devastation on Chief Swan's face as he came to the realization that his daughter hadn't made it out of the flames. The looks of pity and sympathy the townsfolk sent toward my family for _my_ supposed loss only added to my shame.

Another face appeared repeatedly in my family's thoughts: a young Quileute, who I assumed by his size must have already made the transformation to wolf. He was consumed with grief…and fury, and Jasper had kept his eye on the boy as he'd been led away by Sam Uley, the leader of the current wolf pack. The boy had barely made it to the treeline before phasing, exploding out of his clothes, and then running off, howling into the distance.

"A friend of Bella's?" I asked softly.

"Boyfriend," Jasper replied succinctly.

"Bella has a boyfriend?" My family's thoughts mirrored my startled query, though none of them reacted in quite the way I did. Venom pooled in my mouth, and a low growl rumbled in my chest.

"Well, _he_ feels that way…" Jasper shrugged, a look of sympathy on his face.

It didn't matter, other than in the way it might affect Bella. I had _no_ rights where this girl was concerned.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Jasper murmured, dropping to crouch beside me.

"Oh, please," Rosalie muttered and stalked out. If it wasn't for the fact that Bella seemed to need me, my sister would have taken great delight in removing several of my limbs before leaving.

"Jasper is right," Alice said softly, as she came to kneel beside me. "From what I can see, you're going to be a big part of Bella's future."

"That's because she's going to hate me for all eternity," I murmured, the tone of my voice at complete odds with the content. "You only have to look at Rose to know what will happen."

"Not necessarily," Carlisle and Esme said in unison.

"Rose's personality had as significant a part to play as the events preceding her change in forming her vampire character," Carlisle continued. "You'll just have to wait and see with Isabella. She might surprise you."

My siblings had informed Carlisle of my initial reaction to Bella in the cafeteria. I'd been so bewildered, protective…aroused, but that was all irrelevant now.

One by one, my family members left the room to clean off the dirt and smell of the disaster. There was still much to discuss, in particular what to do about the wolf pack and their legitimate suspicions, but they needed time to process events and find reassurance with their mates. Times like this I usually spent alone, but Bella needed me…so I kept talking.

~OB~

The next two days passed with agonizing slowness. Little by little, Bella's humanity leeched away, overwhelmed by the spreading vampirism as my venom took hold. Her beautiful blush slowly faded as her tissues crystallized, the skin hardening to a perfect, impervious sheen, her lovely hair strengthening but changing little in terms of color and texture.

I dreaded the sound of her bones breaking, stretching, elongating. She'd not necessarily gain any extra height, but her body would be perfectly proportioned so as to make her an irresistible lure. And, of course, there would be other, more intimate, changes. Her already perfectly shaped form would be subtly enhanced: larger breasts, smaller waist, faultlessly proportioned curves and angles, though none of the changes would be dramatic in the mold of human makeovers which created truly monstrous results. At a glance, Bella would still be Bella just...more.

My family came and went, sitting with us for a while and offering mostly silent support. All but Esme and Rosalie found preposterous reasons to apologize. Emmett and Jasper went first, blaming my loss of control on the bet we'd had going to see who could go the longest without feeding, though I assured them that I doubted it played a significant role in my relapse. Alice apologized for her loss of foresight and lack of warning.

"I'm so sorry, Edward," she whispered, heartbroken. "I just didn't see until it was too late. Jasper had already started to pick up the emotional disturbance when I got my first glimpse of what was going to happen—I mean, what was already happening."

To distract us both we analyzed the scenes she had seen earlier in the cafeteria. Some of them made a little more sense now, though neither of us had realized that the Bella we'd seen running, climbing, and hanging from the side of a very high cliff was, of course, a vampire. How we missed the transformation in the image of her emerging bikini-clad from the water was a mystery to us both. It was so apparently clear…now. Alice assured me that I was not to be held accountable for that slip, grappling as I was with my first experience of overwhelming lust. We actually laughed at that…for a moment, then both our attentions returned to the beautiful girl lying still and mostly silent beside us.

Carlisle's apology caught me by surprise, as he blamed himself for putting me in the untenable situation in the first place.

We'd all heard of singers, of course, Emmett having come across one many years before. That hadn't ended well either. But Carlisle had hoped that as time passed and we became more experienced at practicing restraint, we would no longer be vulnerable to temptation, even the _extreme _temptation of a singer.

"It was arrogant and foolish of me to take such risks," he offered sadly. "We will need to seriously reassess how we choose to conduct ourselves in the future."

I could hear the hope in his thoughts that he was unable to hide, that this situation would actually work out for the best and Bella would be to me what Esme was to him. He was right, in the sense that there would never be another girl for me, but I did not share his hope that the situation would turn out well.

Early in the morning on the third day, Esme, Alice, and Rosalie came to me with a request. They wanted to give Bella a bath and change her clothes and bedding. I protested vehemently. Yes, the room and our clothes stank to high heaven, but I couldn't bear the thought of inflicting any more pain on her than she was already enduring.

"The slightest touch is agony," I argued.

I couldn't believe they didn't remember. Not even close to a century could dull that memory in my mind. Carlisle had been forced to move me halfway through the change when my screams had begun to attract attention. He'd also realized that he needed to take me to a remote location, or I was going to awaken too close to human dwellings overwhelmed with bloodlust. It had been the right choice. He'd never have been able to control me by himself if I'd gotten the scent of human blood, not with my added newborn strength and speed to contend with.

We made sure the subsequent changes of our family members occurred in as remote locations as possible, which still necessitated their being moved after the initial bite, but at least it was early in the transformation.

"She's a woman, Edward," Esme pleaded. "She won't want to wake up to that smell with her enhanced senses. I can still remember the horror of it…we all can."

I stared at them in surprise. This wasn't something Esme or Rosalie had mentioned before or that I'd ever picked up from their thoughts.

"You too, Alice?" I asked, not having been there when she was changed.

"Oh yes." She shuddered. "I barely knew my own name and had no memory of my life before awakening, but the first thing I wanted—almost before blood—was a long, hot shower."

"We've got some ideas of how to do this," Rosalie added. I could hear in her thoughts how annoyed she was to have to plead her case, but she couldn't help being relieved that anything at all had eased Bella's suffering…even me.

I nodded, all the while keeping up the soft melody I was crooning close to Bella's ear. I'd taken to singing after I'd recited all my favorite passages from all my favorite plays, poems, and stories—in several languages. Emmett gave me grief for my 'dirgy' singing voice while Jasper called it 'soulful.' The others refrained from comment...verbally. I didn't care. Bella seemed to like it, though I couldn't know for sure, and I wondered if it would have been better or immeasurably worse if I'd been able to read her mind as she was changing.

"We'll do it here…give her a sponge bath and change her while you keep singing," Esme explained their plans.

My eyebrows rose, and I looked from one to the other in disbelief.

"Just look away, Edward," Rosalie retorted, her tone snarky. "I'm sure you can give her that much privacy."

They seemed to be forgetting that whatever they saw would be transmitted loud and clear in their thoughts.

"It's not as if you haven't seen us all through our partner's minds…and doing more than just bathing," Alice admonished.

If vampires could blush, my face would have been blazing. I gave my family as much privacy as my gift allowed, heading away from home and out of range whenever possible. But it was impossible to completely avoid seeing and hearing the couples together. Even without mindreading ability, vampires had to learn to live with a reduced level of privacy if they chose to live in any sort of community.

"It's different with her," I murmured, unable to meet their knowing gazes. "I don't want to take advantage."

Rosalie snorted, and I reacted…finally.

"Look, enough already, Rose," I hissed. "You think I don't know what I did was unforgivable and that I've destroyed any chance I had at a relationship with the only girl I'm ever going to care about? I know you want to kill me, in fact I hope you do; you have my permission once Bella is…settled. I'll welcome the chance to be put out of my misery, but please…give it a rest and let's focus on what's best for Bella!"

Rosalie glared at me, her thoughts conflicted, before nodding once. "I'll be leaving you alive, Edward," she responded calmly. "It will be the greater punishment."

I didn't dispute Rosalie's assessment, but looked toward Esme to offer her what reassurance I could. She was very distressed by my words and Rosalie's attitude, but unsure how to help.

"You're sure you need to do this?" I murmured, crooning nonsense to Bella during the lulls in our conversation.

All three women nodded, and I sighed. "Could you bring some clothes for me while you're at it?" I'd need to change as well or any benefit, in terms of odor, would be short-lived. I'd avoided spilling any of Bella's blood onto my hands or clothes, unwilling to waste a single drop. But she'd bled a little after Emmett and Rose had torn me away, and the scent of her blood and sweat had permeated the fibers of my dust and dirt covered clothing as I'd lain beside her.

They agreed and rushed away, returning too soon for my liking.

It was a painful process for us all. Bella's soft whimpers turned quickly to anguished cries, and my heart ached, along with the hand that she'd latched onto, her strengthening grip grinding the bones together.

I focused on her beautiful face, washing away the residue of tears, sweat, and blood, while the girls undressed, washed, and redressed her. Her eyes fluttered open a few times, revealing the startlingly red irises of a newborn vampire, and I mourned the loss of her warm brown eyes. Of her naked body, I saw only a few fleeting glances as I focused intently on Bella's face and my first memory of her in the cafeteria.

The girls helped to preserve as much of Bella's privacy as possible by blocking their thoughts: Alice by singing the national anthem in Afrikaans, Esme reciting recipes from her favorite cooking shows, and Rosalie mentally rebuilding a classic mustang. I appreciated their efforts.

Once Bella was clean and changed into fresh clothing, I took a turn to clean up, a considerable challenge as now that Bella had hold of my hand she had no intention of letting go.

The sight of our joined hands filled me with awe, the feel of her soft, smooth skin stirring an aching tenderness within me. Lying beside Bella, _touching _her, induced a peace within me that I had never imagined possible. I could only hope that my touch brought her a similar feeling of comfort, that's if she was able to fee anything other than the excruciating agony of her body being forcibly transformed from human to vampire.

Alice had seen the exact time that Bella's heart would take its final beat, though why she saw this clearly and had missed so many other crucial events was still a mystery.

As the minutes ticked by I studied Bella's beautiful face, absorbing every detail…every flickering emotion. I wanted her suffering to end but dreaded the moment when her need for me would surely turn to disgust and bitter hatred.

She would never forgive me for what I'd done to her.

_~OB~_

**Thanks for all your kind and encouraging reviews. They make a new writer's day. :D**

**Personally, I just love, smitten, angst-ridden Guiltward. I love the way he adores her from the start and sees only perfection, even in her human form. Guess that's why I wrote it that way…**

**xxx TLSue**


	5. Nightmare

**_Stephanie Meyer created Twilight's wonderful characters. I had Scotty beam them into a parallel universe. (Bella might not be a Trekkie and Sci-Fi geek - but I am.)_**

**_Thank you to my Betas, ChloeCougar and SqueakyZorro. You guys are the best!_**

**_Minor tweak of the Twiverse in this chapter…or maybe not that minor? Damaged vampires _****might _just bleed—blood and venom—in this particular alternate reality. Not canon, I know...but bloodless vampires that crumble like stone statues never made much sense to me. I mean, they drink all that blood and make lots of venom, so where does it all go?_**

**_Posted: June 13th, 2011_****_  
><strong>Words: 4494<strong>_**

Chapter 5

Nightmares

BPOV

_Pain! So much pain! _

Burning…cutting…grinding…torment.

_Had I been kidnapped? Was I being tortured…burned alive?_

I begged for it to stop, but the pain continued…all consuming…overwhelming.

I screamed until my voice was raw, torn to shreds and incapable of producing speech, only to have it _recover _somehow and for the screaming to start all over again.

My mind teetered perilously close to the edge of total despair, and when I could hold on no longer, I fell, tumbling into the burning abyss. Despairing and utterly overwhelmed, a tiny remnant of my sanity crawled away into a remote corner of my ravaged mind to pray and wait for death.

It never came, and that's when I realized there would be no release from this eternal torment…because I was already dead.

I wasn't sure what I'd done to deserve being sentenced to hell. I believed in God, though church had never been a big part of my life—Renée and her many fads and crises taking up too much of my time. Being burned alive for eternity seemed a harsh punishment for irregular attendance.

I used to like talking to God. I thought of him as an invisible friend with supernatural powers that he might send my way if the need was great enough…or not. He was a bit whimsical that way. But it had only taken a few moments of this torture and I'd skipped talking, gone right through prayer, and on to _begging _for relief...forgiveness..._anything_ to make it stop.

Close to surrendering the last remaining fragment of my sanity to the all-pervading pain, I heard a voice...a sweet, soothing, gentle voice.

_Relief swamped me as I realized I wasn't alone._

_Was he an angel?_

I wasn't sure if _angels could visit hell or if he was stuck here like me. _Whoever he was, I hoped he wasn't suffering, but I couldn't deny how grateful I was for his endless stream of comforting, distracting words.

At times the pain made it too difficult for me to comprehend what he was saying…at others the stories seemed familiar. Sometimes he seemed to be speaking in a foreign language, and eventually he ran out of words altogether and began to sing. I loved his singing. It was sweet, low and mournful. In a word…perfect.

I'd long since given up hope that the burning fires would ever stop eating into my flesh, but as long as he was with me, I could endure. His voice was the only thing standing between me and complete annihilation.

There _was _no time...only pain, never-ending burning pain...and him.

But then something changed.

At first it was just a twitch, a tingle, but then the agony began to _recede_from my extremities leaving parts of my body _pain-free—_a possibility I'd forgotten existed. The unexpected reprieve started in my toes and worked gradually up my legs. Then the tips of my fingers experienced the same absence of pain, the cool, soothing sensation traveling slowly up my arms. The relief from the pain was so intense I wanted to weep, but my tears had long since dried.

Sometime later others came. They spoke gently, but their words didn't have the same effect as his, and when they touched me, the agony was so great that I screamed.

They were helping me, he said, it wouldn't take long. But it hurt so much!

Then other fingers closed around mine, and I tensed, waiting for the agony…but they didn't hurt. Somehow I knew it was his hand that held mine, and I refused to let it go. His voice and his hand were my lifelines, and I clung to them as the fires slowly receded and a strange newness overtook my previously burning flesh.

My heart beat crazily in my chest, and an excruciating explosion of agony contorted my body, wrenching a piercing scream from my lips.

Then my heart stopped beating, and the pain faded away.

I waited for my heart to race back to life, for my lungs to scream for air, for something. But nothing happened. The silence was deafening, the utter stillness of my body unnerving. This must be death, but I didn't _feel_ dead, I felt...good, even without a heartbeat.

Startled by a faint noise, I gasped. The sound of it assaulted my ears like wind rushing through the trees. I lay frozen in place, too shocked to move, but after a moment I recognized the noise for what it was. _My own breath!_ I breathed in again, recreating the astonishing sound, and an incredible array of aromas overwhelmed me.

There were others in the room. I could smell their individual scents, and I could hear them breathing_._ With inexplicable certainty, I knew that there were seven people in the room with me…and _he_ was one of them.

He smelled _amazing__._

I wanted to run to him, to throw my arms around him and thank him from the bottom of my heart for staying and helping me endure the fire, but I hesitated.

I didn't know what had happened to me or where I was…and I was terrified.

"She's afraid." I heard a man whisper. It wasn't him.

"She'll open her eyes soon," a singsong female voice chimed. "She's just taking in what she can…adjusting."

I reached out for his hand but met only empty air.

"_Please…_let me go to her," he pleaded, but they forbade him as if they were afraid…of _me_.

"She's newborn, Edward. She won't be happy."

Desire to see his face helped me overcome my fear, but before I could turn to look, the light shining from the ceiling of the room distracted me. I stared at it in awe. Radiating from the glove were colors I'd never seen before, ones I didn't even know existed. Every dust mote, every particle of light shone with unbelievable clarity. It was mesmerizing.

Someone laughed, just a chuckle, but my fear returned instantly, and I sprang into a crouch. Leaping away from the sound of the voices, I jumped up the wall and landed near the ceiling. The concrete cracked, sending web-like tendrils out from where I'd landed and dust showering to the floor below. I stared at it, stunned. I should have been falling with the dust, but I stayed where I was, held in place by the barest touch of my fingers and toes.

"I still can't read her," he groaned, and I turned toward his voice.

He stood below me, held back by the others, but I picked him out in an instant. Startlingly good-looking, he was incredibly masculine, yet truly beautiful in his perfection. My heart leaped in my chest, making me wonder if it had started beating again, and I gasped in another breath, taking the sweet, swirling scents from the room deep into my lungs.

"You can come down. No one's going to hurt you, Bella," he murmured, his voice smoother and the timbre deeper than I remembered. He seemed sincere, but I had my doubts.

"Just step down," the man who'd spoken before instructed, and my eyes darted to his face. He was tall, blond and spoke with a distinct southern drawl. "You'll be fine."

I frowned. It was easy for him to say…he wasn't perched eight feet above the ground_._ Despite my uncertainty, I let go, expecting to fall and land hard and painfully…but the ground rose up ever so slowly to meet me.

"Where am I? What's going on?" I demanded as soon as I landed, and then I gasped again at the strange, bell-like tone of my voice.

Another man stepped forward, movie-star handsome and with dark-golden hair. His expression was kind, but I dropped into a defensive position and flung myself backward, hitting the wall with another crashing thud and widening the crack that descended from the ceiling. I stared at it, stunned.

"It's all right…we're not going to hurt you." The golden-haired man spoke gently, but it made no difference to my terror. "I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and this is my family." He gestured to the other people in the room. They were all young, and ridiculously attractive, though the boy, who looked about my age, was by far the most beautiful.

"We know you must have many questions, Isabella. We want to answer them for you and to help you in any way we can," he continued, and I did my best to concentrate on his words.

_He said he was a doctor._ _Had I been sick?__That __might __explain the pain but not why I was in a windowless, concrete bunker with only a bare mattress on the floor and not a hospital. And where was Charlie?_

I hesitated to ask my questions, having a feeling I wasn't going to like what he had to say. His name was familiar though I didn't think I'd ever seen him before, unlike the boy whose beautiful face kept drawing my attention. It very difficult to stay focused.

"What am I doing here?" I eventually asked, my voice trembling.

"It's a long story," Dr Cullen said gently. "It might help if I start at the beginning. Is that all right with you?"

"Could I have a drink first, Dr Cullen, please? Some water?" My hand rose to my throat. I couldn't remember ever feeling so thirsty.

The boy groaned, his head falling into his hands, and I frowned. _I'd only asked for water._

The terrible thirst demanded my attention, and I looked back to the doctor.

"Please?" I whispered, but Dr Cullen slowly shook his head.

"I'm afraid water wouldn't help, Isabella. You won't be able to keep it down, and vomiting it back up is not very pleasant."

"But my throat, it's _burning,__" I pleaded._

He nodded, his expression filled with remorse. "We'll get you something you can tolerate as soon as possible, but first I need to explain what has happened. Is that all right with you?"

I shrugged, my eyes drawn back to the boy. I wanted answers, but I wanted a drink a whole lot more.

"Human beings have long considered themselves the only sentient species on this planet…but they're wrong," Dr Cullen began his explanation, and my eyes snapped to his face. _What?_

"Other intelligent species inhabit the Earth," he continued, his tone surprisingly reasonable, and I wondered if I was somehow misunderstanding his words. "Though they are in the minority and choose to remain hidden for a variety of reasons. We—my family and I—are members of one of those species."

My mouth dropped open, and I pressed back against the wall. Looking around, I saw the same calm, supportive expression mirrored on each face—all except the boy who was having trouble meeting my gaze. I couldn't deny they looked _different_with their pale complexions and oddly golden eyes. My head jerked back to the boy. _His_ eyes weren't golden…they were a deep, dark red.

I shook my head and numbly repeated Dr. Cullen's words. "A different species."

"Yes, our kind functions very differently from humans. We do not consume the same foods or beverages, have no need for sleep, and from the time we awaken in our new bodies, we do not age or sicken. We are vastly superior to humans in speed and strength and almost indestructible. There are members of our species born thousands of years ago who are still alive today. My family and I are all decades, some of us centuries, older than we look."

I swallowed hard, the saliva tasting strange and tingling as it made its way down my burning throat. While I wanted to scoff at his fantastical story, something held me back. I _had_ just hung by the tips of my fingers and toes from halfway up a wall.

_Was I hallucinating?_

"We are not born this way but go through a process of transformation," he continued, at least having the grace to look uncomfortable as he concluded his bizarre explanation.

"What were you born as?'" I asked, humoring him, desperate for him to stop sprouting nonsense so I could have something to drink.

"We start out human and then if certain events conspire, we _become_ this new species. It is a process that completely transforms our DNA and resultant bodily structures and functioning."

I stared at him blankly. He really seemed to believe what he was saying. "I don't mean to be rude, but what's that got to do with me?" I asked, my thirst making me increasingly desperate.

"This process of transformation has also happened to you," he said somberly.

"That's…interesting," I murmured, completely disbelieving. "Could I please have a drink now…I'm _really _thirsty…and then I'd like to go home. I don't know how long I was burning for or sick or..." I shrugged. "But my dad must be very worried."

Dr. Cullen dropped his head and none of the others would meet my eyes. The beautiful boy seemed to be crying, his shoulders shaking and his head bowed, though he made no sound.

"Dr. Cullen?" I asked tentatively. "I _can_ go home, can't I?"

He slowly shook his head, and my fear returned full force. Pressing back against the wall, my eyes darted around the room, as I looked for a way of escape. To add to the insanity of the situation, strange, static-looking tendrils started radiating out from the Southerner's hands, confirming my hallucination theory. Even knowing they weren't real, I flinched when the zappy stuff reached me. But then my fear seemed to fade away, replaced by a wave of peaceful feelings.

_No longer afraid, but more than a little puzzled, I tried to make sense of what was happening. Were they using hypnosis…alien technology?_

If I was a Trekkie or a sci-fi geek, I might have thought it was cool…but I wasn't…and I didn't.

_Whatever_had happened to me, it seemed to have done some serious damage to my mind.

"You were asleep," Dr Cullen continued, and my brows shot up. "I mean _transforming_ for three days. Your father thinks you were trapped in a fire at Forks High School…that you perished. We're so very sorry, but no, you can't go home."

I gaped at him and then swallowed hard. The torture, the bare room, not letting me have anything to drink…it was all adding up. I wasn't hallucinating; I'd been taken captive by some sort of psychopathic cult. I tried to recall if Charlie had given me any advice over the years for dealing with the criminally insane.

"We could just tell him there's been a mistake," I suggested quietly. "That I was unconscious or had amnesia. Maybe say I wandered off into the forest and couldn't find my way home. I wouldn't tell anybody where I've been, I promise."

"We're not keeping you here because we want to hurt you. We're trying to protect your father, your friends…the people of Forks."

"Protect them…_from me_?" I whimpered.

"Yes, Bella. The food source our kind survives on is blood…_human_ blood. _We_abstain from drinking human blood and survive on the blood of animals, but there are very few of our species that choose to do so."

I stared at him blankly for a long moment.

_Blood. _

_They drank blood, but only animal blood, not human, so that was all right, _I thought.

"So what, you guys are _vampires?"_ I squeaked, barely able to suppress a hysterical laugh.

"Yes, we're vampires," Carlisle replied, his tone filled with remorse. "As are you. We're very sorry."

I wondered if now was the time to mention my tendency to faint at the sight of even the tiniest amount of blood, but then my humor faded away.

_Think, think, think,_ I chanted to myself, deciding my best option was to tell them whatever they wanted to hear until I could find a way to escape.

"I could do that…drink animal blood, not human," I offered hesitantly, lying through my teeth.

The Southerner stepped forward, and I cringed back into the wall, widening the crevice a little more.

"Bella, you're a newborn vampire," he said, his tone reassuring while his words were anything but. "I'm afraid that it takes a lot of time to develop the self-control needed to be able to resist the smell of human blood. If we let you go home, even though you _really_ wouldn't want to, once you heard your papa's heartbeat and smelled his blood…well, you wouldn't be able to resist."

"Resist what?" I whimpered.

"_Biting_, Bella, You wouldn't be able to resist biting your father so that you could drink his blood...or that of any other human you came across. Once you started drinking you wouldn't be able to stop, and they would die."

I didn't have words to respond. The vampires on TV just drank a little blood from their victims and then wiped their memories...they didn't _kill _them! And that was just the ones who _fed from _people. Most TV vampires drank blood from the blood bank...or butchers...or whatever.

The burning in my throat was unbearable, and my mind had reached overload. They could think what they liked, but if I didn't get something to drink soon, I was going to lose it.

"She's getting desperate," the Southerner said to Carlisle. "But she doesn't trust us. If we let her out she'll run, and we might not be able to hold her."

"What then?" the big, dark-haired man asked. They all looked to the tall Southerner for the answer.

"We'll have to bring the blood to her," he said with a grimace. The big one swore.

"Here? In the basement…can that work?" a caramel-haired lady, who stood close behind Carlisle, interjected.

I'd had enough. The burning was unbearable. I couldn't believe it, but I was actually considering going along with them.

_Blood was liquid, wasn't it? You could swallow it, and it was mostly water. Maybe if I held my nose and thought of something else, I'd be all right. _

"Look, if you insist I have to drink animal blood, I will, though don't blame me when I barf all over the place—or pass out. Just bring a bag from the fridge, or wherever you keep it, and we'll get this over with. I just have to drink something…_please._"

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way." Carlisle grimaced. "Believe me, our lives would be so much easier if it did." As he spoke the tall dark-haired male and the beautiful blonde girl left the room, taking the boy—_my boy—_with them.

"So, what then? No bagged blood?" I swallowed the sweet, burning saliva that pooled in my throat at the mere _thought_ of drinking…even blood.

"No," Carlisle shook his head. "We've tried every imaginable form of preserved animal blood, but our bodies reject anything but the freshest."

"How fresh?" I asked, a feeling of dread settling in my stomach.

"Straight from the vein. We snap the animal's neck to spare its suffering, but the blood must be consumed immediately...without delay."

I stared at him, aghast. I'd seriously considered vegetarianism on more than one occasion, as it seemed hypocritical to eat the flesh of animals when I couldn't even kill the fish I caught with Charlie. Now I was supposed to drink an animal's blood straight from its vein?

I swallowed against the burning in my throat. Blood, animal not human, killing...it was all too much.

A strange drumming noise, fast and rhythmic, sounded beyond the door and captured my attention. It seemed to be related to an odor that focused every cell in my body on finding its source…something I somehow knew would quench my unbearable thirst.

_Finally!_

Springing into a crouch, my lips curled back from my teeth as a shocking snarl began low in my belly, traveling upwards and erupting from my lips. Everything inside me screamed…_mine!_

The door opened, and the big man and blonde woman carried in the source of the unbelievably appetizing aroma. It was a deer, though I barely registered that fact as I launched myself across the room and tackled it out of their arms. Driven by some strange form of insanity, I honed in on the pounding pulse at the animal's neck and sank my teeth into the engorged vein, snapping its neck all in the same movement. The animal fell limp, and I dragged it with me to the corner of the room to guard my kill and feed in peace.

I drank steadily, the warm blood soothing my tortured throat and filling my cramping belly. The sight of the blood, the _taste_ of the blood, the fact that I was actually _drinking the blood, _didn't even upset me, and I knew that I would fight with everything I had within me if anyone tried to take it away.

_It…Was…Mine!_

When the deer was drained dry, I let it fall from my arms, my mind and body buzzing as the burning pain in my throat subsided to a bearable level. Filled with an almost blissful feeling of contentment, I sat back and let my blood-stained hands flop to the side…until the sight of the dead animal lying across my lap replaced the sensation of satisfaction with a growing sense of horror.

"Oh, God…" I whispered. Carlisle wasn't insane; his bizarre explanation had been true. I was one of them—a killer—a _vampire!_

"It's okay, Bella. Everything's going to be all right," the blond guy crooned in his Southern drawl. I saw the zappy tendrils heading toward me, but this time I pushed them away with my hand, sending them shooting off toward the ceiling. I didn't want his enforced calm, or hypnotic suggestion, or even a placebo inducing hallucination lulling my senses. Pushing the deer off my lap, I pressed myself back against the wall, the crack widening further and sending a shower of dust and debris down upon my head. _If I were lucky, it might bury me alive. _

Carlisle and the others watched me, their expressions wary. The boy had come back into the room, and I _hated_him seeing me like this…crazed…blood-covered..._inhuman__._

"How did this happen to me?" I demanded in a fierce growl.

"Don't you remember?" Carlisle asked, his voice low and soothing.

I thought hard, trying to remember back to before the fire.

Sitting with Jake. Him warning me to stay away from the Cullen's…

O_h…I bet he knew about this all along! I was going to kill him for not telling me the whole story._

I gulped back a sob. If the Southerner was telling the truth, I couldn't see Jake again or I _would_ kill him…for real.

I remembered my first day at Forks High, sitting in the cafeteria with a group of students I'd hoped would become friends. Then _they'd _come in, and I thought my world had been tipped upside down. _Hah, little did I know. _At least I remembered where I knew them from, where I knew _him_ from.

Edward…Edward Cullen. I looked to where he stood behind the others, his expression sad and defeated.

"School, I was at school," I whispered and Carlisle nodded encouragingly. "Biology, I was sitting next to Edward. He looked really upset or sick maybe...I don't know." I shrugged.

"Then what, Bella?" Carlisle prompted. "It's important you remember. It will make the transition easier if you can face what happened."

Memories flooded my mind, and I spun toward Edward.

"Then _you_bit me," I whispered, horrified. "I thought it was a joke but it wasn't. You _bit _into my wrist, and it _hurt_. You drank my blood, and you kept on drinking even when I started screaming from the pain."

I quickly pushed up the long sleeve of the shirt I was wearing, one I realized I hadn't seen before. I decided I'd think about that later. For now my eyes were fixed on the silvery, twin crescent moon-shaped scar that decorated my wrist, confirming that the bizarre memories were true.

I rose and stalked toward Edward, his family moving to block my way.

"No," he whispered hoarsely, pushing past them. "It's all right."

"It's _not_ all right, Edward," the Southerner warned. "She's stronger than you."

"I said, it's all right!" Edward hissed and then turned to face me. I recognized the expression on his face. It was the look of anguish I'd seen in the classroom, though I didn't remember _him_ screaming in pain and terror.

"You _kept_ _drinking,"_ I accused bitterly. "Biting into my arm and drinking my blood even when I was _screaming in agony_!"

We were face to face now, and I reached up to poke him in the chest with my finger. He flinched and staggered backwards, and I realized the Southerner was right. I _was_ stronger than Edward, and I was beyond mad...I was furious. No wonder he wanted to c_omfort_ me when I was being burned alive. He was the one who put me in the flames in the first place!

"You tried to kill me!" I shouted. "My parents think I'm dead...because of _you_! This is all your fault!"

"Edward!" Jasper shouted, but it was too late. I launched myself at the boy who'd comforted me in the fire and drove him into the ground, smashing his head against the concrete floor with such force the side of his face seemed to shatter. Then I sank my teeth into his shoulder and tore a great chunk away, spitting it to the side.

Now _he _was screaming, as were his family who had joined forces to pull me away...but I was unstoppable.

A small part of me watched on in horror at my actions, but it wasn't the part that was in control…_that _was my rage.

The big man and Jasper grabbed me around the waist, and I took hold of Edward's arm, holding firm. For a fleeting second, touching his arm I experienced that wonderful feeling of comfort and calm that his voice and touch had given me in the fire. But then the two men wrenched me away, and Edward's arm tore right out of the socket, coming away in my hands. Bone protruded from the ragged end of his shoulder as blood and a clear, watery liquid sprayed everywhere.

I fell backwards, Edward's _still-moving_ arm twitching and writhing in my lap.

Numb and despairing, deaf to Edward's screams and the pandemonium around me, I gently stroked the hand that had comforted me when I was burning in the fire. The fingers closed around mine, the same feeling of belonging that I'd felt before spreading from the dismembered hand into mine.

_Oh, God… What was I doing? What had I done?_

Jerking backwards, I threw Edward's arm away and scurried to the hole I'd created in the wall. Huddling into a ball with my arms wrapped around my head, I began to pray, begging God to let me wake up from the worst nightmare I'd ever experienced.

_~OB~_

**_I'd love to hear what you think of this admittedly crazy chapter. So…please leave a review. :)_**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	6. Explanations

**_Stephanie Meyers reigns supreme over the Twiverse. I'm just having a ball playing with her creation._**

**_Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews…such encouraging, funny, insightful comments. And here I was worried I might not get a single review! _**

**_My heartfelt thanks to Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, officially WBBs (World's Best Betas), and to Bratty Vamp and Kimmydon for tweeting OB to their fans._**

**_Posted: June 21st 2011  
>Words: 2831 <em>**

Chapter 6

Explanations

EPOV

I gritted my teeth so hard I almost reshattered the jaw bone that had only recently healed. The last thing Bella needed to hear was my moans, but _sheesh _I'd forgotten how much venom burned. Carlisle had taken the section of my shoulder that Bella ripped out with her teeth and coated it in his venom before carefully setting it in place. It was almost fully healed as the venom worked fast, but the process was excruciating.

The reattachment of my arm was a little more complicated. The bones had knit together very quickly, but it would take time for the tissue and vampire equivalent of nerves to reconnect. The scarring would be negligible, and I'd regain full movement, but it would take some time—_hours_—and in the meantime the pain was horrendous.

I heard Alice approach, her thoughts chaotic as she replayed the events in the basement.

"You doing okay?" she asked quietly when she entered my room.

"Yeah, I'll live…or not." I shrugged. My stoicism in the face of pain did not cancel out my self-pity and remorse.

_Why endure the bitter process of recovery when all I wanted to do was die?_

"She needs you, Edward. She's not…doing well."

Turning my head away, I stifled a dry sob and blinked back the stinging burn of venom from the back of my eyes. Vampires could cry—in a fashion—but without the benefit of tears it wasn't particularly cathartic.

"I can't help her," I whispered. "She hates me."

"Hate doesn't _always_ last forever," Alice offered sadly.

We both knew that was unlikely. One of the major differences between vampires and humans was not visible but it _was_ highly significant. Once we awoke in our new form, it was extremely difficult for us to change. To say that we were set in our ways was a considerable understatement, and the chances of Bella deciding to "forgive and forget" were not odds I was willing to take.

"I don't see how I can help," I replied despondently, letting my arm flop to my side.

I knew what was happening, of course. Bella had withdrawn into herself, refusing or unable to respond. On top of that, it appeared that her ability to block my mind-reading when she was a human had translated into a formidable talent now that she was a vampire. She'd drawn some sort of shield around herself and was deflecting Jasper's efforts to calm her emotions as well as preventing anyone getting close enough to offer her physical comfort—her new shield acting as a nominal force field. It was possible to push past the barrier she'd erected around herself, but the experience wasn't pleasant. Bella's full capabilities were still unknown, causing understandable wariness in my family members as her recent demonstration of newborn strength was not something they—or _I_—would forget in a hurry.

"Jasper can't influence her, but he _can_ still read her," Alice continued. "She's overwhelmed with guilt and remorse. Seriously, her self-loathing is going to rival yours soon if we don't help her."

"But she's got nothing to feel guilty about!" I exclaimed, rising from the couch while cradling my useless arm. "It's perfectly understandable that she attacked me..._inevitable_, considering what I did to her."

"You need to tell her that, honey. She's not hearing us. She needs to see that you're okay. Jasper thinks it's the only thing that will get through to her," Alice pleaded.

Nodding grimly, I steeled myself to face more of Bella's hate and rejection. It was nothing more than I deserved.

_~OB~_

When I entered the lower basement only Jasper and Esme remained. They were trying not to overwhelm Bella with numbers and hoped she would open up to the most nonthreatening member of our group…Esme. Jasper might be able to project calmness and security, but one look at his battle-scarred body and no vampire, new or mature, would ever mistake him for anything but dangerous. Despite his intimidating appearance, Jasper's knowledge and experience with handling newborns made his presence essential, that and the hope that his ongoing attempts to influence Bella's mood would eventually prove effective.

I signaled for them to move away and give Bella and me some space.

_You sure? She did just rip your arm off, _Jasper thought wryly but with genuine concern.

Nodding, I gestured with my good hand for him to stay back as I hugged my other, barely-functioning and still aching limb to my side. I came as close to Bella as I could before a painful and intensely irritating sensation warned me I'd reached the edge of her shield. Backing up half a step, I crouched down. She was curled into a very tight ball and pressed firmly into the crevice she'd formed in the wall.

"Bella, it's me…Edward," I murmured softly and she shook her head from side to side, moaning with distress.

"No, I'm all right…really," I spoke gently, trying to reassure her. "My head's fine. Fractures heal very quickly for vampires, almost instantly. My shoulder is healed, and my arm is well on the way. A few hours from now it will be good as new."

Bella's moaning stopped, and she peeked out at me from behind her tangled hair. I moved a little closer but was met with the stinging prickles, so backed away again.

"See," I said, showing her the side of my head that had all but shattered when I'd hit the concrete. "All healed. And my shoulder is fine now as well."

I pulled my shirt to the side.

She cringed back, and I realized belatedly that showing her the scar, with its distinctive vampire teeth marks, might not have been wise.

"It's not your fault, Bella. I deserved it. You could rip my head off, and I wouldn't blame you. I wouldn't actually die because Carlisle would reattach it, but my memory would be wiped clean. A fitting punishment if you still want to…rip my head off…that is. Or maybe you'd prefer I don't forget because I shouldn't forget what I did to you; it was unforgivable. I won't ever forgive myself…I promise."

I was rambling, but at least she was listening…I hoped. It was such a strange experience for me, not being able to hear Bella's response to my words forming in her mind.

She shifted a little, and I froze, not wanting to startle her. Then she brushed her hair back, and I saw that her hauntingly beautiful face was drawn with grief and misery. The sight was agonizing, and I hated myself with a vengeance. I wondered if I should leave, as surely my presence would only add to her desolation. But when I went to go, she reached out with a lightning quick movement and grabbed my good hand, pulling me closer to her side. Tensing, I expected to have to endure the rather extreme discomfort of her shield, but I felt nothing. Well…nothing but the undeserved pleasure of her touch.

Jasper started toward us, and I gestured for him and Esme to stay back.

_You did just invite her to decapitate you, Edward. You can hardly blame us for being a little anxious_, he thought with asperity, reseating himself against the far wall.

But Bella didn't attack. She just stared at our joined hands cradled in her lap.

"You were with me when I was burning. You helped me," she whispered.

"I tried," I answered softly. "The talking, the singing…it seemed to make a difference."

"It did. It kept me sane." She nodded. "I promised myself, if I ever got out of the fire, I would find you and thank you." Her lower lip began to quiver, and my heart felt like it was being crushed in a vise. "I just didn't realize the person who was comforting me in the fire was the same one who put me there in the first place."

I couldn't speak for a moment, but when I did my voice was hoarse. "I'm so sorry, Bella. What I did was unforgivable."

"Then why did you do it?" she demanded, looking directly at me with her blazing red eyes. I wanted to drop my head in shame but held her gaze.

"Dr. Cullen said you guys value human life, that you don't kill people." Her tone was justifiably aggrieved. "Or is that just a story? Why were you in school around kids if you can't control yourself? How many other girls have you killed, and why didn't you just let me die? Why go to the trouble of saving me if I'm just going to turn into a killer? I don't want to kill people," she finished on a sob.

I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but I edged forward and pulled her against my shoulder, offering what little comfort I could with my now slightly mobile arm.

"You're not going to become a killer, Bella…we won't let that happen," I promised. "We'll help you. We've never attacked children at school before, and we wouldn't have been there if we'd thought there was any risk. It's so long since I've killed a human that I honestly thought it would never happen again. It was eighty years ago, and by choice, not something I couldn't control."

"You _chose_ to kill people?" She looked up at me, her eyes wide.

I nodded and rushed to explain. "I was seventeen when Carlisle changed me. My parents had just died of the Spanish flu, and I was sick and dying, too. He saved my life and kept me away from humans until I could control my bloodlust. But after a while, I rebelled." Even now, after all these years, shame still swamped me at the memory of that time. Having to admit my actions to Bella was a very bitter pill to swallow but one I was more than willing to take if it would help to alleviate her fears.

"I have a gift; I can read minds—but not yours," I reassured her when her eyes widened even further, and she pulled away. She scowled at me for a moment but then settled back against my side, nodding for me to continue. "Because of my _ability_, I decided I could do humanity a service and destroy those who would otherwise prey on the weak and defenseless. I attacked murderers and rapists, child molesters…evil, violent men. I became their judge, jury, and executioner. But eventually I decided I'd played God for long enough, and I returned to Carlisle, the veritable prodigal son."

"So why did you attack me?" Bella asked, her lovely face drawn into a frown. "I'm not a…_bad_ person?"

I sighed and would have run a hand through my hair, but the good one was being tightly held—crushed, to be precise—and the other was still next to useless.

"I wasn't planning on it, I promise. After I saw you in the cafeteria I wanted to see you again. I couldn't read your mind which has never happened to me before, and I was…intrigued." I purposefully neglected informing her of everything else I'd been feeling at the time. "I was looking forward to getting to know you, for you to come and sit next to me in class, but then I caught your scent and…"

"And what?" she demanded. "If you haven't killed anyone in eighty years—why now? Why me?"

I took a deep breath and tried to think of how to explain without sounding like I was making excuses. My family members were bombarding me with different suggestions from all over the house making it even harder to think.

"Remember the taste of the deer's blood?" I asked and she cringed, so I hastily continued. "It didn't taste _too _bad, did it?"

Bella hesitated and then nodded once.

"Animal blood sustains us and keeps us strong, but it's like a human only ever drinking soy milk—nourishing but not particularly appetizing. Some animals taste better than others—domesticated animals are repulsive. It's impossible to drink their blood unless one is completely desperate—but the wilder, more predatory the animal, the better the flavor."

Bella's attention was focused on my face as she listened to my words, intent on my explanation. I'd never had anyone watch me so closely before without knowing what they were thinking. It was like stepping out onto a tightrope blindfolded.

Taking a deep breath, I tamped down on my fear and continued. "In comparison, human blood tastes wonderful…beyond wonderful. It's also intoxicating and incredibly addictive."

"But you resisted for eighty years."

I sighed sadly. "There is an anomaly that can affect a vampire. It's known as a singer—a person who smells and tastes better than any other person they'll ever meet. After all these years, we fooled ourselves into thinking that our abstinent lifestyle made us exempt from the lure of a singer."

"So what? What are you saying?" she demanded.

I took a deep breath, swallowing hard as the venom pooled in my mouth at the mere memory of her blood. "Bella, what I'm trying to say is that _you_ are my singer."

She stared at me, her mouth opening and closing several times but no words coming out.

"So…so what?" she stuttered, eventually. "I smell good to you?" She shook her head, no doubt trying to make sense of a completely nonsensical situation. "You smelled my…my _blood_ and just couldn't resist? You just _had_ to bite me and drink my blood because you knew I was going to _taste _good?"

It took all my once vaunted self control not to look away. "Yes," I whispered hoarsely. "You…your blood...it's my own personal brand of heroin."

Bella stared at me for a moment, then dropped her head.

"Not that that's any excuse," I continued when she said nothing. "If I'd had any idea that this might happen I would never have taken such a risk, I just…"

"Just what, Edward? Surely, you guys must have considered the risks before you started attending high school?"

Her indignation was completely understandable.

"We've been vampires for a very long time, and we pride ourselves on our self-control…or we used to. After Alice came to live with us, we became even more confident that we could handle mixing so openly with humans. She has a gift like mine, except she doesn't read minds, she sees the future."

Bella's eyebrows rose, but she didn't comment, so I kept talking.

"Alice normally sees any crisis before it eventuates, but lately something has been interfering with her ability to see things clearly, leaving gaps in her vision. In hindsight, we should have withdrawn from public life until we'd worked out what was wrong…but we didn't. After all these years without any major mishap we've become arrogant, complacent, and you've paid the price." I hung my head in shame.

At any moment I fully expected Bella to banish me from her sight, her rejection and vitriol nothing more than I deserved. I waited, the seconds ticking down to the inescapable pronouncement of my judgment, never expecting the words she eventually spoke.

"I can't _sleep," _she whimpered. "And I can't cry…not really. There are no tears, and it doesn't feel the same. Carlisle said I won't be able to eat food again, and I love food—preparing it, cooking it, eating it—it's a big part of life when you're a…a human. And what about drinking coffee or hot chocolate or fruit smoothies? I mean, I don't know where to start with the whole 'no drinking' thing."

I murmured reassuringly, wanting to explain that her interest in human food would quickly fade and that she'd come to enjoy the blood of wild animals…but now didn't seem the time.

"And I can't see my family and friends because Jasper said I might _hurt_ them. They think I'm dead!"

Not knowing what else to do, I pulled her against my chest, tucking her hear under my chin and rocking her gently to and fro to try and comfort her.

"I never asked to be a vampire, I'm not even _emo_," she whimpered. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do or where I'm supposed to go."

"You don't have to do anything or go anywhere. We'll take care of you. I…I mean my family will," I stammered. "I'll go away. You won't have to see me ever again. I promise I'll never bother you or put another human at risk again, either. You have my word."

She pulled back and stared up at me, frowning. "Why would I want you to go away?"

"Because of what I did. You must hate me."

"I do!" she retorted. Then the corner of her mouth lifted a fraction, and my non-beating heart literally leapt in my chest. "But I feel better when I'm holding your hand, so I think I need you to hang around…for now."

_~OB~_

**_I hope you liked. Not quite so action packed, but we've got some work to do to get these two to where they need—and we want—them to be. What did you think of the 'tweaks' this time around? _**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	7. Mood Swings

**_Thank you to Stephanie Meyer for allowing us to play with her wonderful creation. Did you know that there are authors who refuse to allow their stories to be adapted for Fan Fiction? Shudder…_**

**_Another chapter out in under a week! A huge thank you, and a big, beautiful bouquet of flowers to my amazing Betas, ChloeCougar and SqueakyZorro._**

**_Special thanks to one of my favorite authors, Content1 (check out her Unloved Unwanted and post Breaking Dawn stories. They are amazing,) for offering to preread Once Bitten and help me work out the kinks in my plot. I'm still pinching myself at her incredibly generous offer._**

**_Special thanks to gkkstitch (if you haven't read her stories, Absolucion and Antithesis, then you've missed a rare and special find,) for working through my old chapters and challenging me to improve as a writer. _**

**_Not too many Tweaks in the Twiverse this chapter except for Bella's shield. I couldn't resist giving her a little more fire-power. I think if I'd been turned into a vampire against my will, I'd want a little more than an invisible, rubbery balloon defense!_**

**_Posted: June 26th 2011  
>Words: 4945<em>**

_From the end of Chapter 6_

_EPOV_

"_You don't have to do anything or go anywhere. We'll take care of you. I…I mean my family will," I stammered. "I'll go away. You won't have to see me ever again. I promise I'll never bother you or put another human at risk again, either. You have my word." _

_She pulled back and stared at me, frowning. "Why would I want you to go away?" _

"_Because of what I did. You must hate me." _

"_I do!" she retorted, then the corner of her mouth lifted a fraction, and my non-beating heart literally leapt in my chest. "But I feel better when I'm holding your hand, so I think I need you to hang around…for now." _

_~OB~_

Chapter 7

Mood Swings

BPOV

_What was I doing flirting with the unbelievably beautiful boy from school who I'd been crushing on right before he tried to kill me? I'd heard of fickle, but this was ridiculous._

I ducked my head, waiting for the tell-tale blush that would broadcast my embarrassment…but it never came.

_Oh yeah…no heartbeat meant no more flaming cheeks._

I supposed that could be counted as a point in favor of becoming a vampire but considering the overwhelming negatives, I wasn't about to start cheering.

I still _felt_ embarrassed, and I had an audience. They'd been sitting so quietly, I'd almost forgotten my two guards watching me from against the wall. Not that I blamed them for being there. I could only imagine what they thought of me for my earlier behavior.

Keeping my head down, I avoided looking their way.

"I'll stay for as long as you need me, and I'll leave whenever you say." Edward's softly spoken words interrupted my thoughts and drew my attention to the fact that I was sitting huddled against his side. In light of what he'd done to me, it should have been the last place I wanted to be. But I couldn't quite bring myself to move away.

_What must _he _think of me? _I wondered, glancing up into his sad, red eyes…which reminded me. "Your eyes were black the other day at school," I stated, scowling. It wasn't a question but Edward seemed to understand what I wanted to know.

"Our eyes get darker when we haven't fed…black if we leave it for too long," he answered somberly. "The gold color is normal for us because of our diet, but other vampires have red eyes from drinking human blood. My eyes are red at the moment because I drank your blood."

I shivered and hugged my free arm around my waist. I wasn't cold, just disturbed at the thought that my blood was now circulating around Edward's body—or _not_ circulating as the case may be. I wasn't sure how a body functioned without a heartbeat.

Then another even more disturbing thought crossed my mind.

"What color are _my _eyes?"

Edward winced and then admitted, "They're red."

"But I drank the animal blood. I didn't hurt anyone!" I protested. It was bad enough I had lost my natural eye color—one of the few things I actually _liked_ about my appearance—but _red_?

"All newborn vampires start out with red eyes because of their own blood remaining in their tissues. It won't last forever." He shrugged, his expression sympathetic.

"How long?" I demanded. "How long will my eyes stay red?"

Edward hesitated and my stomach sank.

"About a year," he whispered, looking down.

I sat back and tugged my hand from his, hugging both arms around my middle.

"Ouch!" he yelled and scurried backward.

I stared at him, bewildered.

"Your shield, Bella…it hurts," he explained while briskly rubbing his arms and legs. "I couldn't feel it when we were holding hands."

"Feel what? What are you talking about?"

"You have a talent like Jasper, Alice and I, a shield that you're projecting around yourself. It blocks _our_ talents…well, some of them. Alice can still see your future and Jasper can read your emotions, but I can't _read_ your mind and Jasper can't _influence_ your emotions."

I got the impression that Edward's explanation was supposed to be reassuring but if anything, it had the _opposite _effect on my frazzled nerves. Shaking my head, I rejected his bizarre revelation. I didn't know how to prove his shield idea was nonsense, but there was one thing that I _knew_ he was wrong about.

"Jasper_ did_ influence my emotions earlier," I contradicted, gesturing briefly towards where Jasper and the caramel-haired lady sat against the far wall. "When he sent those zappy things my way I thought I was hallucinating, but then I calmed down…well, the first time. When he did it again later, I didn't want them affecting me, so I pushed them away."

"You _saw _that?" Jasper's eyes widened, and he crossed the room in the tiniest fraction of a second.

I'd never see anyone move so quickly before. If I'd still been human, I imagined he would have appeared as just a blur of light and color. Even though my newly enhanced eyes were able to capture every image of his approach—like watching a movie in a strange combination of 'frozen' and 'fast-forward'—my mind struggled to accept that such speed was possible.

I jerked back against the wall, the trembling returning with a vengeance.

"Bella?" Edward edged closer, but then he flinched and quickly backed away, wincing as if he'd been stung. "Would it help if I held your hand again?" he asked, reaching tentatively toward me. "Jasper didn't mean to startle you…it's just we've never heard of anybody being able to see his talent before. He can help you. He knows a lot about newborn vampires."

I didn't know or care that much about Jasper's experiences with baby vampires, though my mind boggled at the thought. I just needed help to bring my escalating fear under control.

Making a sudden decision, I reached out and grabbed Edward's hand, yanking him toward me. I didn't mean to use too much force, but he practically flew through the air, the breath rushing from his lungs when he crashed against my side.

I didn't even wobble at the impact.

"Ss…sorry," I stammered and tried to pull back, but Edward quickly righted himself, refusing to give up his grip on my fingers. The relief I felt at his touch was almost instant, the panic subsiding as the now familiar sensation of comfort spread through my body.

"You okay?" he asked, bending to capture my gaze.

I nodded. "I didn't mean to pull you so hard. I can't seem to control myself," I whispered.

"It's all right…it's just your newborn strength," Jasper explained, edging a little closer but with his hands outstretched to show he meant no harm. "Newborn vampires are very strong at first, for about as long as their own blood remains in their bodies, but once it dissipates you'll only be as strong as a normal vampire." He smiled wryly.

"So, all vampires are really strong?" I asked, peeking out at him from behind my tangled hair. I could only imagine what a mess I must look like, and they were all so…so…perfect.

"Yes…all vampires are incredibly strong," Jasper confirmed. "Though not as strong as you are at the moment, which is why we've had to take precautions," he explained, gesturing to the windowless room I'd awoken in. The only furnishings in the bare concrete bunker were the mattress I'd been lying on and the light bulb set into the ceiling behind steel mesh.

I began to shake again, and Edward reached to stroke my shoulder with his free hand. It didn't help…I was horrified.

"I have to stay down here for a year?" I whimpered, and their eyes widened in surprise.

"No, sweetheart, of course not!" the woman interjected. She'd stayed quietly by the wall but now edged slowly closer to sit beside Jasper. I pressed back against the wall, my terror rising at her proximity.

_When had I become such a coward?_

"It's all right, Bella. This is Esme, my mother…for all intents and purposes." Edward gestured to the attractive lady while gently rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. I looked down to where our hands were joined, temporarily distracted.

"Hello, Bella," Esme said softly, and I startled, my eyes flying back to her lovely face. She smiled, and I nodded hesitantly in return. She didn't _seem_ threatening; the only clues to her alternate species status were her pale skin, amber eyes and unearthly beauty…of course. She also didn't look any older than her early twenties, so I wasn't sure what to make of Edward's comment about her being his mother, but then Carlisle didn't look any older, and I remembered my dad saying he was a world class surgeon.

"We're so sorry this happened to you, and we'll help in any way we can," Esme continued, in her soft, lyrical voice. "We promise not to leave you alone, and we won't ask you to remain down here for any longer than is absolutely necessary."

I nodded again, reluctant to ask how long _absolutely necessary_ might be to immortal creatures.

"So this shield thing, that's not normal for…for _newborns_?" I asked instead. I wasn't sure how I felt about referring to myself as a baby.

Edward shook his head. "Only you," he said with a crooked grin, and I gaped at his smiling face, mesmerised by his ridiculous beauty.

"We don't even know the full extent of your abilities," Jasper added, and I did my best to focus on his words, reluctantly dragging my eyes away from Edward. "Whatever they are, as a newborn it will take some time for you to gain full control," Jasper explained.

I nodded, my gaze returning to Edward. He was close enough that I could smell his sweet, alluring aroma…like sunshine and cinnamon and everything good. I breathed deeply and swayed toward him, but then another, far less appealing aroma assaulted my senses. With a shudder, I broke away from Edward's gaze and looked down, my eyes widening when I noticed the blood and gore-stains on my hands and clothes. They'd been clean when I'd first opened my eyes, but between burrowing into the wall, ripping Edward's arm off, and killing and drinking from the deer…I was a mess.

"Jasper?" Edward looked toward the other man and they seemed to conduct some sort of private exchange.

Edward nodded, and Jasper leaned forward to speak. "Bella, it's the middle of the night so highly unlikely any humans will come near the house. If you promise to return to the basement if we ask, then I can see no reason why you can't come upstairs for a while."

"I'm sure you'd like to clean up," Edward offered, and I nodded hesitantly.

We stood together, and I was surprised by how I felt. I'd been curled into a tight ball for hours, huddled in a cold basement, and yet there was not a single ache or twinge of pain anywhere in my body—save for my throat which was burning just a little. I'd just been through the most traumatic experience of my life and hadn't slept in who knew how long, yet physically I felt stronger and more energized than I ever had in my life.

My emotional state was another matter. I couldn't begin to comprehend the loss of my family, my friends…my _life_ as I knew it.

I held tightly to Edward's hand as we crossed to the basement door. Esme smiled reassuringly, but I couldn't help noticing Jasper's vigilant expression. They were able to come closer, so the shield they insisted I was projecting must be down…I really couldn't tell one way or the other. The idea that I was somehow generating an invisible force-field seemed ridiculous, but then, what _wasn't_ ridiculous about this bizarre situation?

We made our way up the stairs to what looked like a normal household basement, and I frowned and looked back down the stairs to the room below which I realized must be dug deep into the earth. Edward explained that Alice had foreseen the _need_ for a soundproof, secure room…but not the reason _why_.

I shook my head, not thinking much of Alice's so-called psychic ability. If she'd seen the attack ahead of time, they could have prevented it…then they wouldn't have _needed _the soundproof room!

We took another flight of stairs up to the ground level, the basement door opening into a utility room. Then Esme led the way along a wide hallway and into a very large living room.

"Oh!" I marveled, coming to a sudden stop.

The room was enormous, at least as big as the entire ground floor of Charlie's house, but despite its size, it was surprisingly warm and inviting. The lighting was soft, the carpets and furnishings various shades of white on white, and the walls ablaze with vibrant artworks featuring those intriguing new colors I couldn't name.

"Not what you expected?" Edward asked, his face lighting up with an encouraging smile.

I stared at him, trying to recall if I'd seen him smile before, I mean _really_ smile. My mind was still a little fuzzy around the edges, but I was pretty sure I would have remembered. His crooked half-smile was bad enough but this…this smile was devastating. It stretched his sculptured lips wide, highlighted his chiseled jaw and incredible cheekbones, and showed off his gleaming white teeth. When I realized I was gaping at him with my mouth hanging open, I snapped it shut.

"Welcome to our home," Esme interrupted, and I jerked around to face her.

"We want you to feel at home with us," she continued. "I realize it's too soon…but one day we hope you will accept us as your second family."

A faint red haze blurred my vision, as outrage at her words surged within me.

_I already _had_ a family. I didn't need a second one!_

Esme and Jasper leapt backward in a flash of movement, and I cried out in alarm. They landed about ten feet away, wincing and rubbing their arms.

I knew Carlisle said they were fast, but this was ridiculous.

"It's okay, Bella," Edward turned to me, bending to capture my gaze while he gently rubbed my shoulder with his free hand…the one I wasn't clutching with terror. I took in a deep breath, kept my eyes on his, and felt my fear slowly subside.

"The shield?" Edward asked, glancing toward Jasper and Esme. They nodded and approached us cautiously with Jasper taking the lead, one hand stretched out before him as if he was feeling his way. When he was a few feet from us he jerked his hand back with a hiss.

_Could it be true? Could I be generating a…a force-field? _

It didn't make sense, but then again, nothing much _had_ since the moment I'd sat down beside Edward Cullen in biology class my first day at Forks High.

"Do you know what distressed you?" Jasper asked, his tone gentle. "Was it something Esme said?"

I hesitated before answering, remembering why I'd gotten so upset and not wanting to lose control again. Breathing deep, I tried to bring my wildly swinging emotions under control. One minute I was furious, the next afraid, and now all I wanted to do was weep.

"My parents…they really think I'm dead?"

Jasper's gaze fell and neither Esme nor Edward would look me in the eye, so I took that as a yes. Then Carlisle entered from a wide doorway on the far side of the room, and I spun to face him, the fear returning in an instant.

"Bella, why don't you come and take a seat, and then we'll bring you up to date with what's happening with your family and friends." His tone was calm and soothing, clearly meant to reassure…but it didn't.

My parents and friends thought I was dead. I had a fair idea what would be happening with them, and it wasn't good.

I made my way toward Carlisle with Edward beside me, my hand still gripped firmly in his. The light blurred around us, and we reached the couch in a fraction of the time it should have taken to cross the room. Edward staggered at my side, and then righted himself by resting his hand on my shoulder. His touch distracted me—for a moment—but then I jerked away, tugging my hand from his and hugging myself around the middle.

This was all his fault! If it hadn't been for Edward, my family and friends wouldn't have to be dealing with my death. He stayed by my side, though I was pretty sure my so-called shield was causing him pain_._

_Good, _I thought, shocking myself with the vehemence of my emotions. I wasn't a mean person, never intentionally causing anyone pain, but a part of me wanted him to suffer…a little. If it wasn't for Edward, I'd have been at home, asleep in my bed. I'd have cooked dinner after school for Charlie and me to eat together in the kitchen. Then I'd have called Renee with news about my first week at Forks High and probably made plans to catch up with Jake on the weekend. Instead, I was trying to come to terms with being transformed into a blood-drinking vampire, though how I was supposed to adjust to something like that I had no idea. As for my parents and Jake, they must have been going through hell.

Edward winced, again, and rubbed his recently reattached arm—the one I'd ripped off a few hours earlier. My conscience stung at the memory, and I sighed…relieved that I still had a conscience. Relenting, I reached out and linked our hands together, and we _both_ sighed with relief at the contact.

I went to sit, then hesitated, not wanting to get bloodstains, concrete dust and who knew what else on the fancy-looking cream leather. Glancing at my horribly stained clothes reminded me of how much I desperately needed a shower.

"Bella, do you feel up to talking about this now?" Carlisle asked, interrupting my scattered thoughts.

"Staying focused is difficult," I admitted.

"It will get easier. I'm afraid that's another newborn trait, along with volatile emotions. Vampires actually have incredible powers of concentration and memory. When you're a little more settled in your new life, you'll find your ability to learn, memorize, and multitask will far exceed even the greatest human mind."

My eyebrows rose. While I was relieved to hear that my crazy on-again off-again feelings weren't going to be a permanent fixture, I couldn't help being a little irritated by Carlisle's patronizing tone. What I wanted to know, is if vampires were so damned superior, why hadn't they found a way to survive that didn't involve either killing or infecting and torturing innocent people?

Jasper coughed, and the others looked his way. "I think what Carlisle is trying to say is that you won't have any trouble staying focused in future. Another positive is that whatever you see, hear, or learn from now on will store permanently in your memory and can be accessed at any time."

"But my memories are starting to feel fuzzy," I contradicted.

"Those are your _human _memories," Jasper explained. "They fade very quickly. Most vampires are so caught up in the bloodlust after their change that by the time they've gained some control they can barely remember being human. If you want to retain your human memories, all you need to do is recount them to yourself and you'll have them forever."

"Unless I get my head ripped off," I answered snarkily.

_What was wrong with these people? I didn't ask to be turned into a vampire! Why wouldn't I want to remember being human?_

Carlisle and the others sprang up and backwards as if they'd been shot from a canon, with Carlisle and Esme landing pressed against the far wall of the vast room and Jasper perched on a ceiling beam high above our heads. I gaped at them in alarm. If they were they going to move around like that on a regular basis, I'd have to say something, because it was hell on my nerves.

"Bella, you need to calm down," Edward urged softly from his place beside me.

"I am calm," I muttered angrily, offended but now also bewildered. "What's wrong with them?"

"Your shield has expanded and increased in intensity," he nodded to the others. "It's quite painful."

"What?" I gasped and stepped back, dragging Edward with me. I hadn't meant to hurt anyone. "I'm not doing it on purpose!"

"What do you feel…or see?" Edward asked, his tone calm but urgent. "Is there anything out of the ordinary?"

I looked at him incredulously. _Everything_ was out of the ordinary. Despite his ridiculous comment, I wanted to make it stop, so I concentrated, trying to sense my shield. It was a bizarre exercise, but to my surprise, I quickly became aware of a faint shimmering light like a heat wave on a long desert road. It extended out from my hand, forming a dome over Edward and me and taking up most of the room.

"Um, I think I can see it," I muttered reluctantly, hardly believing my eyes. I didn't want them to be right but couldn't deny what I was seeing.

"Try to pull it back…or better yet, turn it off if you can. You don't need it. You're safe here with us," Edward urged with obvious sincerity.

I wasn't so sure about that but tried to do as he asked, concentrating on calming down and making myself as small as possible…hoping that might help. To my relief, after a few moments the shield begin to slowly retract, the faint light growing dimmer until by the time it reached us it had flickered and gone out altogether.

"It's down," I said and let go of Edward's hand to prove it. He tensed and then rewarded me with a glorious smile, and to my disgust, my non-beating and far from discerning heart lurched at the sight.

Jasper stepped down from the ceiling, and the pixie-haired girl whom I remembered from the basement rushed into the room to embrace him. Then Carlisle and Esme approached cautiously while the big man and blonde woman entered in a hurry.

"How…how bad was it?" I asked bewildered.

"Bad, I'm afraid…or is that a good thing?" Edward turned toward Jasper, who was briskly rubbing his arms.

"It will make an excellent defense and a potential weapon when she learns to control it," Jasper responded with obvious excitement before turning to the girl in his arms. "Bella, I'd like to introduce you to my mate, Alice. Alice, this is Bella."

I waved a timid hello to the girl who Edward said could see the future…sometimes.

"Hi," I murmured. "Sorry I hurt Jasper. I didn't mean to."

"Oh sweetie, we know that." Alice smiled reassuringly. Jasper snorted, and she elbowed him in the ribs. "It's actually really cool. As far as I know, only the Volturi guard members have offensive weapons," she continued, her tone surprisingly chirpy considering the fact that I'd just tortured several members of her family.

"I don't want to attack anyone," I said, backing away while struggling to keep the shield from reactivating…I could actually _feel_ it this time. I didn't know what a volturi was, and I wasn't comfortable with their casual discussion of weapons, especially ones that involved _me_. Before I got very far, Edward took both my hands in his and pulled me with him back toward his family.

"It's all right, Bella, you're safe. No one's angry with you or expects you to do anything you don't want to. It's just we haven't had a newborn vampire in our midst for a long time. We're a little overzealous," he said, speaking with the same soothing tone he'd used when he was comforting me in the fire.

I wasn't sure how to feel about that, as I didn't like the idea of being manipulated, but as my fear and anxiety faded, I decided his methods were warranted. I needed to stay calm, as it seemed he was right about this shield thing I was somehow projecting or generating or whatever.

It had _hurt _them.

I'd never deliberately hurt anyone in my life. Well, other than Edward…earlier.

"Here, let me introduce you to the rest of the family," Esme offered with an overly bright smile. "This is Emmett," she said, pointing to the tall, dark-haired man who looked about twenty but was apparently decades older…or centuries for all I knew. "And this is Rosalie." She gestured to the woman with the perfect features and long, fair hair, who stood at his side. Despite her modern attire, I could definitely picture her coming from a bygone era. She looked like an old-time Hollywood movie-star.

"Pleased to meet you," I said out of habit. Other than the bewildering fact that I thought my strangely silent heart would shatter if I never saw Edward again, meeting him and his family had been far from pleasurable.

"I'd give you a hug to welcome you to the family, but you might crush me with your newborn strength…which would be kind of embarrassing as I pride myself on being the strongest," Emmett said with a big grin.

Shocked by his words, I huddled against Edward who wrapped his arm around me.

"Don't worry…Emmett's not as tough as he looks. You're going to make him cry when you beat him at arm wrestling," Edward murmured close to my ear. I stared up at him in alarm. Emmett was huge. _Just how strong was I?_

"He's not joking," Jasper added with his movie-star smile. "Edward and I are counting on you. You're going to make us a fortune when he loses."

"Lose schmooze," Emmett grumbled. "As long as your girlfriend doesn't 'zap' me, I might have something to say about the outcome."

Edward looked uncomfortable at Emmett's use of the word girlfriend, which didn't surprise me. It was obvious he'd only been interested in me when I was human because he couldn't read my mind and then later because of my 'mouthwatering' blood. His current concern was motivated by guilt and nothing more. I got that.

My feelings were a bit more complicated.

I couldn't quite believe it, but it seemed the infatuation I'd felt for Edward when I first saw him had not only survived my change but, to my annoyance and embarrassment, somehow grown stronger. While I was determined to keep my feelings hidden, I realized that might be easier said than done considering I seemed to be dependent on his touch to stay calm.

An odd sensation prickled the back of my neck, and I reacted instantly, every muscle tensing as I prepared to…_defend myself?_ A low, rumbling growl vibrated in my chest, as I searched the room for danger.

One look at Rosalie and I knew the source of the threat.

She was glaring at me with open hostility, and my newly enhanced senses came on full alert. My shield glowed, as my lips curled back from my teeth, and I hissed at her while dragging Edward behind me, ready to defend us if she didn't back down.

"Rosalie, what the hell is your problem?" Edward demanded.

"I'll tell you what my problem is," Rosalie snarled. "I'm disgusted that she's letting you paw her after what you did to her."

Another strange growl rumbled in my chest, and my shield glowed more brightly.

"Now, babe, come on…" Emmett cajoled, dragging Rosalie and the others with him as he backed away from my rapidly expanding shield. "She's a newborn, and if holding Edward's hand helps her to stay calm, that's a good thing…right?"

"It's not right!" Rosalie snapped. "He _attacked_ her…tried to _kill_ her. She'd be dead if I hadn't gotten her to Carlisle. I risked our family—our _safety_—by running with her in public, and this is how she responds? I should have let her die!"

I whimpered, and it was Edward's turn to growl, the sound rumbling through his chest and vibrating against my back. The sensation was almost enough to draw my attention away from Rosalie's attack, but I was losing control of the shield and afraid I was going to hurt Edward's family again…or worse.

Just as I thought I would lose complete control, Jasper sent out a huge wave of his zappy tendrils across the room. This time, I gladly let them through my shield…how, I don't know. The effect was instantaneous, and I felt myself calming down. As soon as I was able, I pulled the shield back but kept it close, pleased that I appeared to have developed at least a little control over my bizarre new ability. I wasn't about to let it drop altogether, though. I didn't trust Rosalie…even if she had saved my life.

"Rosalie, you're transferring your own experience and feelings onto Bella and expecting her to react the way you did when you awoke. Your situations are not the same," Carlisle admonished with calm authority. "Edward is highly remorseful, and he tried to stop himself from giving into his predatory instincts. I think we should be cautious before making judgments. After all, he's not the first member of our family to be faced with the temptations of a singer."

"But he tried to kill her! How can she stand to be near him?" Rosalie cried, lunging toward me. I hissed again, my shield expanding rapidly as my fear and anger returned. Edward tugged me back at the same time as Emmett grabbed Rosalie around the waist and pulled her away.

Taking a deep breath, I tried hard to regain control. Rosalie might be super-aggravating, but that didn't mean I wanted to hurt her. I barely _knew_ her.

"Look Rosalie, I appreciate that you saved my life," I offered when I'd calmed down enough to speak without growling. "I know it doesn't make sense, but holding Edward's hand helps me to stay calm, and that seems like a pretty important thing right now. It doesn't mean I'm not angry with him for what he did, it's just…it's just…" I trailed off, afraid that if I said much more I'd end up admitting I was still crushing on my attacker.

No wonder she thought I was pathetic.

_~OB~_

**_Thanks for reading and especially to those taking the time to review. It is such a buzz to hear from the people with whom I'm sharing this journey. _**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	8. Best Laid Plans

_**Thanks to Stephanie Meyers for the Twiverse.**_

_**Special**__** t**__**hanks to my lovely Betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, for turning this chapter around in record time, and to Content1 for pre-reading and all her words of encouragement.**_

_**Extra special thanks to my readers and reviewers. We topped the '100' with almost 20 reviews last chapter. Thank you so much. I really enjoy reading your comments, ideas and suggestions for this story.**_

_**So…to thank you all, I'm posting this chapter only a few days after the last one. It's only a shorty - but a sweetie. I do love me some Worryward!**_

_**Posted: June 28th 2011  
>Words: 2652<strong>_

Chapter 8

Best Laid Plans

EPOV

"I think I can explain why keeping in close contact with Edward is soothing to you," Carlisle offered, approaching cautiously. I heard his reasoning and glared at him.

_It's all right, Edward; she needs to hear this,_ he thought, ignoring my silent warning.

"Esme and I experienced something similar while she was changing…and afterward," Carlisle continued.

"It's not the same," I hissed, and Bella sent me a questioning look.

"I want to hear," she insisted. "What was similar?"

"Edward's right, it wasn't exactly the same as what you've experienced, Bella dear," Esme answered, coming to stand beside Carlisle and lacing her arm through his. "But I do remember being able to hear Carlisle's voice when I was changing—a little. After I woke, I found it much easier to cope when Carlisle was close by."

Rosalie arced up immediately. "But you and Carlisle were friends. You had feelings for each other _before_ he changed you," she argued. "And then you fell…you became…"

I winced at where she was taking this. My unprecedented reaction to Bella in her human form had caused the rest of the family—bar Rosalie—to jump to the conclusion that Bella and I were supposed to be together, the vampire equivalent of 'soul-mates'…as far as such things went. They didn't believe I would ever feel the same about another girl, and they were right. But that didn't mean Bella would come to feel the same way about me _or_ needed to know what they were thinking.

"It was _different,_ Rosalie," I growled, wanting to haul her out of the room, wrestle her to the ground..._anything_ to keep her silent. "Carlisle changed Esme to _save_ her life."

"My point exactly," she spat while Bella looked on confused.

"Esme and I had a connection before she was changed that continued through and beyond her transformation," Carlisle added, ignoring Rosalie and I.

"So you're saying Edward and I have some sort of…connection?" Bella asked, and I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. She didn't need this sort of pressure.

"It doesn't matter." I tried to reassure her. "It doesn't mean anything, or it doesn't have to unless you want it to, of course…" I trailed off, seeing her lovely features contort in what looked like distress.

_Idiot, _Jasper berated me.

The rest of the family seemed to agree, though not for the reasons I expected. Other than Rosalie, they seemed to think Bella _wanted_ there to be a connection between us and that my attempts to take the pressure off were leaving her feeling insecure.

_They were wrong…surely? _

I could only surmise that Bella found my touch calming because I'd been the one to comfort her while she was changing. This dependence, her desire to be near me…it wouldn't last. After what I'd done to her, she couldn't possibly want any sort of ongoing relationship. The day would come when she'd realize she didn't need me and no longer wanted me around…I _knew_ that, and was bracing myself for the painful eventuality.

Bella pulled out of my embrace, and I reluctantly released her.

"I could really do with a shower and change of clothes," she murmured, her shoulders hunching over as she wrapped her arms protectively around her middle.

_Her emotions are all over the place, Edward, _Jasper thought, catching my eye. _But she's definitely feeling hurt and rejected._

I stared at him in disbelief. _How could she think that? _

Bella looked around the room, then her attention settled on Alice. "Any chance you'd help me? I can't promise I won't zap you, but I'll do my best to keep control of the shield thingy."

Alice squealed with delight and Bella stepped backward, coming up firmly against me. My heart lurched, every nerve ending tingling from the feel of her soft, supple body touching mine. I wanted to whisk her away and try to explain my clumsy words, to somehow reassure her without giving her the wrong impression…whatever that might be. But I suppressed the urge, worried I'd only make things worse.

"It's okay," I murmured, when I felt Bella's body trembling against me. "Alice is just excited to have a new…friend. But don't let her treat you like a Barbie doll, or she'll dress you up in the most outlandish outfits." My words were foolish, but I hoped a lighter tone would ease Bella's distress.

"Oh pooh, don't listen to him," Alice said, flitting over and grabbing Bella's hand. "Edward's fashion sense comes from the 1900s—_early _1900s." She poked her tongue out at me and began to drag Bella toward the stairs.

_Don't worry Edward, I've seen this…she'll be okay. She just needs some girl time, _Alice thought with a quick wink in my direction_._

I nodded warily.

"Come on, Rose. You take Bella's other hand and we'll go have ourselves a little makeover," Alice urged.

Rose hesitated and Bella flinched.

"Don't mind Rose. This situation's just pressed a few of her buttons. She's not really angry with you, _are you_, Rose?" Alice insisted pointedly.

Rosalie glared at _me_ for a second then offered Bella a tentative smile at which Alice reached out and joined Bella's free hand to Rosalie's.

"There… all safe," she sing-songed and then led Bella toward the stairs

"Edward?" Bella whimpered and in a reminder of her remarkable newborn strength, easily drew both girls back toward me.

"It's all right. You'll be fine with Alice and Rosalie, and I'll be here when you come back down," I promised. I wasn't sure if she'd forgiven me for upsetting her, but she was clearly looking to me for assurance, a wholly undeserved gift I wasn't about to waste.

Unable to resist the urge to touch her, I reached out to brush a strand of her hair behind her ear, and she blinked up at me, her long, dark eyelashes fluttering against her creamy cheeks. At the look on her face, I had to suppress a groan...and a completely inappropriate surge of desire. Supporting and helping Bella _without_ taking advantage of her vulnerability, was going to be a challenge…especially considering my recent track record.

"You ready, Bella?" Alice interrupted, gently tugging on her hand.

Bella flinched then took a deep breath. "O…okay," she nodded and let the girls lead her away with one last glance over her shoulder in my direction.

Venom stung the back of my eyes and I blinked away the irritation. Watching Bella walk away, not knowing how long before she walked away for good…was torture.

"Don't despair, Edward," Jasper murmured as he came up beside me. "She has pretty strong feelings for you."

"Yes…a strange dependency masking outrage and bitter hatred," I muttered. He laughed before slapping me on the shoulder, and I was pleased not to wince, my reattached arm well on the way to recovery.

"I think there's a bit more to it than that," Jasper said dryly. _But you won't believe me no matter what I say, so I think I'll let you work this one out for yourself. I do suggest you ease up on the self-flagellation though…it's not helping. _

His cryptic thoughts left me puzzled and a little annoyed. I would have delved deeper, but I was following Bella's progress through the house via Rose's and Alice's eyes and thoughts. They were doing their best to distract her and hopefully keeping her mind off her overwhelming losses. When they reached the bathroom that the two girls had claimed for their own, I reluctantly withdrew, restricting myself to just listening to the conversation, in particular Bella's contributions. Alice had just told Bella she could ask anything she liked about _me, _such as whether or not I had a girlfriend. Bella went silent at Alice's words, which meant…

_Aargh! _I had no idea what that meant and wanted to pound my head against the wall in frustration.

_Edward, there are things we need to discuss while Bella is distracted_, Carlisle thought and I nodded, moving to join him and the others out on the back patio.

"If we keep our voices down she shouldn't hear us," he whispered. I went to protest but he raised a hand. "I'm not saying we should keep anything from Bella, but she's struggling to maintain, well _gain_ control over her emotions and talent. I don't want to upset her unnecessarily while we discuss our options."

I nodded and he continued.

"The memorials are scheduled for the day after tomorrow. We'll have to leave you and Bella alone together, which I'm concerned may be premature. We've also got a number of townsfolk determined to visit the home and offer their condolences. Esme and I have made excuses the past few days, but we think continuing to do so may raise questions."

"If she hears their heartbeats or catches their scent, we'll be hard pressed to hold her," Jasper warned.

"And if the wolves get a whiff of Edward, there'll be hell to pay…considering he's supposed to be dead," Emmett added, his normal joviality put aside in the face of this crisis."

Bella's new scent should be different enough from her human scent to fool the wolves, but we knew they'd recognize mine from a mile away.

"What do you suggest?" I asked, raking my hands through my hair. "I'm sure you've given this plenty of thought, but I've been a little distracted."

I normally missed very little, my family members having to go to considerable lengths to hide their thoughts or intentions from me, but I was surprisingly ignorant of their plans. I'd picked up some fragments from them over the last few days, but there were definite gaps in my knowledge—testament, no doubt, to how overwhelmed I'd been by the events of the previous few days…and to the effect of having Bella in our midst.

Carlisle smiled and patted my arm. "Em and Jazz have helped me work out the beginnings of a plan. It will be easier if I just think it at you while we run. _You_ need to feed, and then a shower and change of clothes wouldn't go astray."

"I can't leave Bella," I protested.

"She's fine, Edward," Jasper soothed. "Rosalie has calmed down, and I'll stay close enough to monitor them. Bella's stopped fighting me so I can help her manage her moods. If they finish before you return, which is _highly_ unlikely, I'll just assure her you'll be back shortly."

I nodded reluctantly.

"Man, you got it _bad_," Emmett laughed, slapping me a little too hard on the back. I grunted, too worried about leaving Bella to think of a witty comeback. Emmett's smile faded. "Don't worry bro, she's into you, too…I can tell."

I raised a brow at Emmett's words, not about to put too much stock in the relationship advice of a man who had fallen head over heels in love with Rosalie at first sight and never questioned his choice or sanity in all the decades they'd been together.

"What about the wolves?" I fretted, reminded that my scent was no longer supposed to exist. It had taken some serious persuasion on both Carlisle's and Jasper's parts to convince the pack that I'd perished along with Bella in a completely _accidental_ fire. Carlisle had played on the common myth that vampires instantaneously combust upon contact with flame. In reality, a vampire could endure a fairly intense fire for upward of fifteen or twenty minutes before the flames began to consume their body. It was why the only way to guarantee a vampire's destruction was total dismemberment _before_ throwing the pieces into a substantial fire. A vampire's body could 'reassemble' itself if the head was not detached, and be reassembled by others days—or possibly _decades—_after decapitation…no one knew exactly how long.

A pile of ash, on the other hand, was a pile of ash.

"We'll stay on our land," Carlisle answered my query as we leapt across the river and ran into the forest behind our home. "Alice said there should be some deer in the north field. It's a reasonable distance from Quileute territory, and there's no reason for them to encroach since, as far as they're concerned, the treaty is still intact."

I snorted, considering the true state of the treaty, but kept running, impatient for Carlisle to keep up. I didn't want to be away from Bella for any longer than necessary. Only a few hours were left before dawn when we would have to start worrying about humans coming to the house.

"So, what's the plan?" I prompted, and Carlisle took a quick moment to organize his thoughts.

_I've called in the Denali clan to assist us; they left some hours ago so they should be here in about eighteen hours._

I suppressed a groan, aware it was a sensible decision. Adding Bella to the mix may well change the dynamics of our combined group—I hoped—then cringed as I recognized the self-serving nature of my thoughts. I was the _last_ person who should benefit from Bella's presence in our midst.

_The wolves won't recognize their scents, or Bella's, now that she's a vampire. But they _will _question a newcomer in our midst. We'll just say we've got six vampire friend's visiting for the memorial, not five. That way we should be able to trick them into thinking Bella is one of our northern friends…as long as she stays out of sight, _Carlisle continued, and I determinedly refocused on matters far more important than my personal comfort_._

I nodded, wondering if part of Carlisle's plan was for Bella to head north with the Denalis when they returned to Alaska. I didn't like this idea but could see where it might have some merit, as long as I accompanied her and my family followed soon after.

_We'll have to find a way to disguise your scent from the wolves. Jasper has a few ideas from his warlord days…something to do with essential oils, I think._

I heard the chuckle in Carlisle's thoughts but would happily douse myself in whatever Jasper considered necessary to keep Bella and the family safe.

_You and Bella will have to spend some time in the hidden room. Emmett is 'vampire' soundproofing it as we speak, so Bella won't be disturbed by our human visitors. I'd move us all to somewhere more remote immediately, but it would look too suspicious. Alice has been considering every variable, and she's certain that if we leave Forks in anything under three months, the consequences will be highly detrimental to the family._

I staggered to a halt. "Three _months_? We can't keep Bella hidden for that long."

_I know, _Carlisle thought, backtracking to my side to pat me on the shoulder. _We'll think of something. I'd considered sending you both north to Denali, but travelling by road is too risky. If Bella picked up a human scent from another car she could break free and rip it open like a tin can. Flying is not an option, and overland is difficult without coming into proximity with human populations or crossing Quileute territory._

We started running again, having caught the scent of the deer. This situation would be substantially easier if we didn't have the wolf pack to worry about.

Carlisle didn't need to feed, so he stood watch while I quickly dispatched a large buck. I normally needed a decent run after feeding to burn off the adrenalin rush, but not this time; getting back to the house and Bella was my highest priority. Carlisle and the others had made some progress toward working out a solution to our dilemma, but we were a long way from being in the clear. We'd have to find a way to get Bella and me out of the area before the wolves discovered our duplicity, or there would be more than hell to pay…there would be war.

_~OB~_

_**Thanks for reading! Next chapter we get to have a little 'girl time' – and watch Rose and Alice dish the dirt on Edward. ;-) **_

_**I won't beg for reviews…or maybe I will, just a little…please?**_

_**xxx TLS**_


	9. Unveiling

_**Stephanie Meyers owns it all – but she's willing to share!**_

_**Thanks to my wonderful Betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, for doing an incredible job and putting up with my inability to manage apostrophes. My heartfelt thanks also go to Content1, for pre-reading and sharing her amazing expertise with a very grateful newbie.**_

_**No major tweaks of the Twiverse in this chapter, but Bella does come to some rather interesting conclusions…**_

_**Posted: July 4th 2011 (Happy Independence Day, US Twifans!)  
>Words: 3817<strong>_

Chapter 9

Unveiling

BPOV

The house was huge, decorated with lots of artwork and interesting pieces that looked like they'd been collected from all over the world. But despite the obvious luxury, it all looked surprisingly _normal_.

"And here is the kitchen, fully stocked…of course." Alice gestured to the sort of dream kitchen I'd only ever seen in magazines. I looked around, a little confused.

"But you guys don't eat."

Alice shrugged. "It's all for show, well mostly. Esme likes to be able to offer coffee and cake to visitors, though we tend to avoid hosting dinner parties. Regurgitating human food is extremely unpleasant." She shuddered.

I couldn't understand how she could be so blasé about their—_our—_inability to eat or enjoy food.

"Don't you miss being able to eat normal food?"

"I have no memory of being human, Bella, and you can't miss what you've never had…or don't remember," she explained with a shrug.

I had so many questions but didn't want to pry any further...or deal with any more revelations.

_Maybe Edward could fill me in later,_ I thought, and then cringed.

One minute I had the ridiculous notion he might like me, and the next it was obvious he was motivated by guilt and nothing more. I _hated_ being needy and feeling such an overwhelming attraction to someone so far out of my league.

Oh, and I also hated him for what he'd done to me…_didn't I?_

Sighing, I took a last look at the kitchen before the tour continued. First chance I had, I'd cook up a care package for Charlie. Someone else could take the credit…I just needed to know he was being looked after.

I'd been sending Charlie care packages since I learned to cook at age ten, when Renee's lack of culinary talent had started to bother me. It would feel like old times, except that I wouldn't get to hear him thank me in one of our stilted phone chats.

It was different with Renee. She had Phil to take care of her, which is why I'd been able to leave her and move to Forks to be with Charlie. I'd been worried about his lonely bachelor life for a while now, cooking up a storm whenever I stayed with him, and leaving his freezer fully stocked when I left at the end of each summer.

I still couldn't quite believe I'd left both my mother and father…for good.

No matter what had happened to me I _was_ still alive, and while I didn't want to put anyone else's life at risk, surely there was some way to let Charlie and Renee know I was okay…well, sort of okay?

The girls showed me each couple's domain, distracting me from my thoughts. There were king-sized beds in all the rooms except for Edward's, which had a long leather couch with a raised and padded end. I wondered why they needed the beds when they didn't sleep, but was thankful I hadn't voiced my question aloud when I suddenly recalled the _other_ reason a couple might want a bed. Ducking my head, I was relieved I could no longer blush.

"So…Edward." Alice interrupted my uncomfortable thoughts. "Ask away, and we will tell you anything you want to know."

"Oh no, that's okay…" I trailed off, risking a glance at Rosalie.

"I know you have questions," Alice continued, seemingly unconcerned by her only very recently infuriated sister. "So how about I answer the ones you'd _like_ to ask, such as…does Edward have a girlfriend?"

I tried, but couldn't hide my interest. He _was_ the only single one amongst them.

"No…no girlfriend." Rosalie surprised me by answering. "And not because of lack of opportunity, but because he's too damned picky…and arrogant…and conceited…and-"

I had a feeling Rosalie could keep going for a while when it came to listing Edward's faults.

"No love lost between the two of you then?" I murmured.

She looked surprised by my comment. "He's my brother. We're family. Of course I love him."

My eyebrows rose, but I kept silent.

"Well, maybe you could be a little more forgiving then," Alice suggested primly.

"He tried to kill her," Rosalie hissed.

"And he's sorry, and he's doing everything he can to make it up to her," Alice argued, confirming my fears about Edward's motivation for staying close to my side.

"So_…you've_ never killed anyone." I nodded toward Rosalie. It would certainly explain her righteous indignation.

"It wasn't the same," she retorted. "I killed the men who attacked me and left me for dead…_after_ I was changed and had developed enough self-control not to kill indiscriminately, of course. But I've never bitten anyone, never tasted human blood."

"Oh, well…I guess that's all right then," I murmured, a little dazed. I'd thought the question was rhetorical but should have known better. I wasn't exactly in Kansas anymore.

"Yes, yes, Rosalie. We all know about your amazing self-control, but have _you_ ever been faced with a singer?" Alice demanded, her free hand on her hip.

"No…have you?"

"Actually, I have...twice, and I killed them both times; or I would have if I hadn't had my visions to forewarn me," Alice answered, her tone more somber than I'd heard so far. "And I'm surprised you're forgetting Emmett's little indiscretion, even if it was a long time ago. One sniff of his singer and that poor woman didn't stand a chance. I don't see you holding that against him for all of eternity."

Rosalie stared at Alice for a moment and then shrugged. "Maybe I've judged Edward a bit harshly," she admitted as they ushered me into a very large and luxurious bathroom. The mirror was covered over, but I didn't ask why, my mind reeling from Alice's disclosure.

_Just how many people had the Cullens killed between them? _I'd never met a murderer before…or anyone who'd been attacked and left for dead.

"So…Edward." I decided asking about his hopefully nonexistent love life was actually a less confronting topic than the girls', or Emmett's, homicidal experiences. "He's _never_ had a girlfriend?"

"Nope, never," Alice confirmed. "He's been alone for a very long time."

"But he's had opportunity?"

Alice nodded and I frowned, wondering what that meant.

"_Human_ girls?"

"Oh, no…not a chance. The boys barely even _see_ human girls, other than as potential prey to be avoided at all costs," Rosalie retorted, then gave me a wry look. "Well…usually."

"What Rose is trying to say is that it would be too dangerous for a vampire to have any sort of romantic relationship with a human," Alice explained.

"Because they might lose control and _bite_ them?" I asked, warily.

"Yes…and because we're just so much stronger than humans. If we forget our strength for even a fraction of a second, we can kill a human or snap their spine or something equally dreadful. And they don't heal up like we do, so once the damage is done…" She shuddered.

"So, Edward's potential girlfriends were…?"

"Vampires, of course," both girls answered together.

"But not the kind that kill humans. There's only one other family like us that we know of. It has just one couple, but _three_ single females, so Edward could take his pick. But like I said…he's too fussy." Rosalie snipped.

_Three single female vampires?_ I stifled a groan.

"And I suppose they're all incredibly beautiful?" I murmured wanly. Alice and Rosalie both nodded.

"But not as beautiful as you, Bella, so I wouldn't worry." Alice smiled happily while I wondered if there was something wrong with her mind.

_Could vampires suffer from mental illnesses or delusions? Maybe it was connected to her amnesia._

"But that's not why Edward's chosen to remain single. _All_ vampires are exceptionally attractive, after all. Kate and Irina considered the possibility when they first met Edward as they've both been single a very long time. Tanya would definitely like a chance and could have made him a wonderful mate." Alice frowned and then gave me an apologetic shrug. "But the feelings need to be mutual. Edward never felt that way about her, about any of them. I think he'd given up on _ever_ feeling that way about a girl…until he met you."

_Again with the cryptic and illogical statements._ I could barely compete for a boy's attention in the real world, let alone up against female vampires. Letting Alice's words slide, I looked around the bathroom. Like the kitchen, it all looked deceptively normal, though I had a feeling the makeup and hair products lining the shelves cost a bit more than the bargain variety stuff I used.

"So, I think I have my, er…shield under control for now. I could really do with a shower, and then I guess I'm going to have to borrow some clothes?" I looked up at Rosalie, whose legs finished somewhere above my elbows, and Alice who barely came up to my chin. They both laughed.

"Bella, we've had all week to prepare for this moment, and we can assure you, borrowing clothes will not be necessary," Alice said dryly.

"You've bought me new clothes?" My voice squeaked. "But I can't repay you. I have some money in my account but no way to access it."

They laughed again, and I frowned. I knew they were wealthy, you only had to look around to see that, but I wasn't about to accept charity.

"Bella, you're one of us now, and when you're a "Cullen," money is absolutely no object," Alice stated chirpily, ignoring my distress at their spending money I couldn't repay and of being so casually included as 'one of the family.'

"Even before I came along, Edward was doing an exceptional job of managing and growing the family finances…between his natural business skills and the whole mind-reading thing," Alice explained. "Then, when I could tell him which way the market was heading and which companies to back, the sky was the limit. Our merry little band is now worth more than the GDP of many small countries…and some of the larger ones."

"So what do you do with all the money?" I asked and then winced at my rudeness. I wasn't normally one to pry.

"Whatever we want," Rosalie said with a shrug. "Edward and Alice _make_ the money and we all enjoy spending it. Esme and I run one of the largest charitable institutions in the western world…anonymously, of course. As for personal spending money, we try not to be overly extravagant as it attracts too much attention, but there really is no limit on how much we can spend. It's only a drop in the bucket compared to the income pouring in."

"So…" Alice smiled as she caught hold of my hand. "You can enjoy your new wardrobe with a completely clear conscience, and all we want to hear from you is, 'Thanks, I love it!'" She finished with a squeal and then led me through to the adjoining bedroom and into the biggest walk-in-closet I'd ever seen. It was larger than my old bedroom at Charlie's.

"This is a spare closet. We decided to put your new clothes in here until we've got your permanent living arrangements sorted."

I stared, bewildered at the overwhelming amount of clothing lining the numerous shelves and hanging in row upon row from the racks. Many of the outfits were covered in the sort of fancy zip-up bags that cover an evening gown…not that I'd ever bought one personally. I'd avoided school formals, despite a couple of invites from sweet, desperate types who'd run out of options, as with my complete lack of coordination, high heels and a dance floor were a recipe for humiliation.

Alice and Rosalie had clearly gone to a lot of trouble, but it was difficult to hide my horror. Sure, I had a few favorite outfits, but to say that I was _not_ interested in high fashion was a massive understatement.

I walked a little closer and noticed the tags still attached to the garments, bearing fancy designer names that even _I _could recognize. I swallowed hard…this wasn't good.

"Um…Alice?" I started, and she hushed me before I could continue.

"Now, Bella, don't be intimidated by the designer wear. We realize that's a little outside your comfort zone just now, but hey, when a girl's gotta shop, a girl's gotta shop." She gestured between herself and Rosalie. "We've also bought plenty of outfits in the style you're accustomed to…just a _little_ bit better quality." She waggled her fingers and pointed to racks of tops, blouses, and jackets, and shelves packed with what looked like t-shirts, camisoles, and jeans.

I sighed with relief and moved in their direction, but the girls ushered me back to the bedroom. Laid out on the bed were a new pair of what I assumed were designer skinny jeans, a cream camisole top, and a fitted plaid shirt in blues and lavenders. Lacy-looking underwear in a matching blue, socks, and a pair of blue and purple converse sneakers completed the outfit.

"I've seen you in them and you look _stunning_," Alice boasted. "Now repeat after me, 'Thank you Alice, this is perfect.'"

I did as she asked and was rewarded by a huge grin and a very quick hug that was over before I could react. At least my shield stayed 'inactivated' this time…or whatever.

"Shower first?" I gestured in the direction of the bathroom, and both girls nodded. I was very keen to get out of the putrid clothes I was wearing, clothes that weren't mine, I recalled with a frown. I decided not to ask what had happened to the clothes I'd been wearing on Monday, my first day at Forks High. Somehow, I didn't think I wanted to know.

The girls followed me into the bathroom, and I was worried they were going to stay. But they merely directed me to the strawberry-scented shampoo, conditioner and body wash they'd bought in my honor…something Rosalie said Edward didn't deserve. I was too overwhelmed to ask what she meant, and relieved when they left me to shower in peace.

The water felt strange; it was so _soft_ and seemed to bounce off my skin. I tried different temperature settings and discovered I could tolerate pretty much anything. Cold felt fine, as did scalding hot. I took my time, appreciating a few moments to myself, though I was puzzled as my legs seemed longer and my breasts larger, which was impossible…or maybe not. I snorted. It was clearly time I reassessed my idea of what was normal, possible, and real.

I checked to see if I needed to shave, as almost a week had passed since I'd had a girlie session before my first day at school. But oddly, I didn't have any stubble to worry about…anywhere.

I toweled myself dry, and had barely covered up when the girls burst back into the room, making me wonder if they had a camera hidden somewhere.

Rosalie saw my startled expression and gave me a wry smile. "Alice times everything to the millisecond. You'll get used to it."

I nodded, relieved that Rosalie didn't seem angry with me anymore, and let myself be led to a chair in front of the covered mirror. As soon as I was seated they started drying my hair and fussing over my nails.

"Well done, Bella, they're in great shape. You have _no idea_ how difficult it is to do a manicure or pedicure on a vampire, but on the plus side, once it's done it never has to be done again."

"Never?" I asked bewildered.

"Nope, never," Alice chirped. "The same goes for the removal of unwanted body hair." She lifted my arm and looked at my armpit, before running a hand quickly down my leg. "Oh, please tell me you waxed your bikini line, or had a Brazilian, the same time you shaved your legs. If you're done and happy with what you have or _haven't_ got, our work here is practically done."

"Um…all shaved—bikini-line that is—no Brazilian needed." Or wanted for that matter, I thought, sitting back in alarm. "What did you mean by 'never'?" I asked again.

Rosalie answered while Alice took over with the hairdryer. I could hear them both easily over the noise without them having to raise their voices.

"Vampires are essentially frozen, Bella. We never change, never age. Whatever we look like when we awaken from the change is basically the way we stay for as long as we exist."

"You are _so_ lucky to have this beautiful long hair," Alice said with obvious longing. "I don't know where I was before I changed, but my hair was a _mess_. It took a ridiculous amount of effort to manage even this much of a style, and believe me, cutting or shaving vampire hair takes a lot of effort."

"Just ask Jasper." Rosalie surprised me by giggling.

"Jasper?" I took the bait.

"Yes, well, I'm sure he looked very dashing back in eighteen-sixty-whatever with his pointed goatee and handlebar mustache, but when he finally found me in 1948, he stood out like a sore thumb. We trimmed it back to a nice neat 'stach and goatee for a few years, but when we decided to tackle high school it really had to go. I'll show you the photos if you like."

I nodded. It wasn't hard to imagine the tall, blond Southerner with a full mustache and beard, clad in an officer's uniform. I shook my head, refocusing as the girls declared my hair was finished to their satisfaction, and they began to study my face.

I sighed. No amount of cosmetics would ever put me in their, or any other female vampire's, league. I was still smarting over the news that Edward had _three_ gorgeous vampires vying for his attention.

"Well, I don't see what we can do," Rosalie began, and I cringed. I could have told them they were wasting their time. "Your eyelashes are even thicker and longer than Edward's, and his are a criminal waste on a boy. Your lips are fuller than they were before and have a lovely, rosy hue. Your complexion is flawless, though I remember it being that way already…a little paler of course, but then vampires have better vision and can pick up the subtle shades that humans miss. Even then, I don't think anyone's going to accuse you of looking chalky white. Your jaw line and cheekbones are to die for. Your eyelids have picked up the grey and mauve tinges common to vampires, giving you a sultry, smoky look. We could add a little blush, but I think that's about it, and strictly speaking, hardly necessary."

I gaped at her, bewildered. _Who was she talking about?_

"We'd like to be in on the big unveiling, so how about you cover up a little and then we'll take the sheet off the mirror?" Rosalie suggested. Before she'd finished speaking, Alice was back, handing me the lacy blue underwear set.

"O…okay," I stammered as they flitted from the room. I donned the underwear in record time, but they still returned the instant I was dressed. The girls positioned me in front of the mirror and then, with little warning, whisked the cloth away. I looked up and saw three beautiful women reflected in the mirror.

Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them.

I felt my shield activating, and grabbed hold of the girls' arms to protect them from being zapped. As I spun around, I tried to find the source of the intruder's reflection, but there was no one else in the room.

_Where was my reflection?_

I vaguely recalled stories that told of vampires not casting shadows and reflections, but Alice and Rosalie were reflected in the mirror, so…

I turned back and looked closer, gasping at what I saw. The third beautiful woman was _me…_sort of. I could vaguely make out my features in the shape of the startling red eyes, and the basic shape of nose, mouth and jaw line. The hair was _similar_ to my own, but the color was so much richer and more vibrant than I remembered. I looked like the super-model version of myself!

"It's me," I whispered. "But like…airbrushed or photo-shopped or something."

Rosalie and Alice burst out laughing and I cracked a small smile, which was reflected back to me, revealing _perfectly_ straight, gleaming white teeth. Dropping my eyes to the body reflected in the mirror, I gaped at the decidedly larger curves peeking out of the pretty blue bra, my tiny waist, and _definitely_ longer legs. I spun to look at myself from the back, and even though I'd hardly been out of shape as a human, there was quite a difference between what I'd been and the utter perfection I saw reflected in the mirror.

"Oh…my…" I whispered, feeling stunned and uncertain. _Who was this perfect stranger?_

"What?" Alice demanded. "_Please_ don't tell me you're disappointed because seriously, Bella...you…are…stunning."

I smiled tentatively at the compliment, but my uncertainty was growing. I'd always had what I thought was a reasonably okay self-image, despite my very ordinary looks. It wasn't that I couldn't recognize the improvements I saw before me, but I felt like I'd lost another big part of my life…my appearance.

"No, I'm all right," I assured them weakly. "Just a little, er…shocked. I know you guys are all incredibly good looking, but I thought that might be coincidental. I didn't realize I'd end up in the same league." I groaned and covered my face. "Oh, that sounded so conceited. Please don't mind me. I'm just a little overwhelmed."

"It's not conceited," Rosalie rebuked, though gently and with a smile as she pulled my hands away from my face. "It's all part and parcel of becoming a vampire. We're the ultimate lure, the ultimate predator. Everything about us: our looks, bodies, voices, even our _scent_ is designed to lure the humans in."

"_But_…" Alice smirked. "Since we're not wasting our gifts on dazzling our prey, we get to dazzle our men-folk instead and enjoy the awesome benefits of _their_ vampire gorgeousness!"

She was right about one thing; they were all gorgeous…_especially_ Edward.

I stared at the reflection in the mirror and considered the implications of the changes I saw before me. I might feel the same on the inside—_sort of—_but the outside was something else altogether. I hadn't asked for the changes, but I had to admit that _this _girl could stand alongside Edward and not look ridiculous…that's if he was even interested. He had three gorgeous vampires throwing themselves at him, and he wasn't keen on _any_ of them! It didn't sound like Edward even _liked_ girls.

I groaned.

It was just my luck to fall for a guy who was not only a vampire…but quite probably gay!

_~OB~_

_**Thanks for the lovely, insightful, and challenging reviews and for staying with this story. I hope you enjoy the fun and games ahead.**_

_**All reviews receive a reply – some more rambling than others. I'm not sure if that's an encouragement or enough to put you off for good!**_

_** xxx TLS**_


	10. Revelations

_**Thank you Stephenie Meyer, for sharing the Twiverse - yay!**_

_**Thank you so much to my lovely Betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar. I can't believe how much you guys pick up, even after I've gone over it all with a magnifying glass and a fine tooth comb… repeatedly!**_

_**Thanks to Content 1 for prereading, and for helping me tame my occasionally wild, rampant, and sometimes highly illogical, imagination. This story is be so much better for your input.**_

_**Thanks also to all the readers who are bookmarking this story. I'm so glad you're reading and sharing the journey with me.**_

_**Posted: Sunday, July 10th 2011**_**  
><strong>_**Word Count: 3899**_

Chapter 10

Revelations

EPOV

I could hear the girls' laughing voices and wondered what was taking them so long. Bella _must _have showered and dressed already, but I didn't dare take a peek in case I was wrong.

I paced, impatient for Alice and Rose to come down and return Bella to my side. She wasn't contributing a great deal to the conversation, but when she did she sounded…happy?

_Did that mean she wouldn't need me anymore? Was my time in her life already coming to an end?_

"Easy, Edward," Jasper murmured as I passed him for the umpteenth time. "She's nervous about seeing you, too."

I stopped and stared at him, confused. _Why would Bella be nervous about seeing me? _Other than the fact that I'd bitten her, drank almost all her blood, caused her untold agony, and was responsible for her being turned into a vampire...of course.

"You're getting a peek into _our_ world, bro." Emmett chuckled. "Lots of waiting around while the girls get ready…lots of drooling and acting like idiots when they finally show…and then lots of _enjoying _the benefits of their efforts."

Shaking my head, I resumed pacing. I had no intention of drooling or acting like an idiot, though my brothers behaving foolishly around their mates was certainly something I could attest to.

After what seemed like an eternity, the girls made their way down the stairs, and my best intentions went out the window. My jaw dropped and I froze in place, relieved when my brothers quickly moved to my side to offer me some much needed, but thankfully surreptitious support.

Bella was beautiful.

Bella was _already _beautiful_. _

Bella had been beautiful as a _human,_ but _this_…this particular incarnation of Bella was in another league entirely.

She was dressed in clothes quite similar to the ones she'd worn the first day I'd seen her at school, though no doubt of better quality if Alice and Rose had had anything to do with their supply. She wasn't wearing, nor _needed,_ any makeup. Her lovely brown hair had been washed and styled, though I honestly hadn't minded it messy. All in all, I wasn't exactly sure why she suddenly looked so much more…more...

_It's confidence_, Jasper offered.

_She's got your number, _Emmett added with a quiet chuckle.

Bella and the girls stopped in a line in front of us, with Bella standing in the middle. Rosalie was still sending me death looks, but Alice fairly vibrated with excitement. The pictures in her mind were changing so rapidly that it was difficult to make sense of what she was seeing…and I _was_ somewhat distracted.

"Hi," Bella murmured shyly into the silence, looking up at me through her lashes while chewing on her lower lip.

I opened my mouth to reply, but no words came out. All I could do was stand and stare.

"Edward?" Her bell-like voice wobbled, her tentative smile fading in the face of my blank look and gaping mouth. I could see my moronic expression reflected through Alice's and Rosalie's eyes.

_Man up, Eddie boy,_ Rosalie stunned me by ordering. _She likes you, God only knows why, and might even be willing to forgive you. Don't mess this up!_

I snapped my mouth shut and stepped forward, my hand outstretched. While I still couldn't speak, I hoped my actions would deliver a more eloquent message than any words sent from my befuddled brain by way of my 'drooling' mouth. Bella's smile firmed a little, and she placed her hand in mine, the others stepping back to give us a semblance of privacy.

"Feel better for a shower?" I asked, idiot that I am. _Why didn't I tell her how beautiful she was?_

Bella nodded and then frowned, gesturing toward my face. "You've hunted?"

"You can tell?" I asked, surprised.

"Your eyes, they're not so red." She seemed disgruntled. I'd gotten lazy over the last century when it came to reading faces and body language, but I was determined to get back up to speed…fast.

"It's unsettling, the first time you see yourself with red eyes," I commiserated, hoping I was interpreting her expression correctly.

"They're just _so_ red," she grimaced.

I reached out to carefully touch her cheek, pleased that I'd rightly discerned the cause of her distress. "They'll change to amber in time. I'm sorry they'll never be brown again. They were a beautiful color."

Emmett called me a fool for reminding Bella of my past indiscretion, but she didn't pull away. In fact she smiled, albeit sadly, and leaned into my hand. I savored the feel of her cheek beneath my palm, a faint spark of hope igniting in my chest.

_Could Rosalie be right? Could Bella be willing to forgive me?_

Carlisle coughed, gaining my attention.

"Sorry to interrupt, but it's nearly dawn…and we need to talk."

"Oh, of course," Bella said, jerking backwards. I kept hold of her hand, immeasurably pleased to feel her return the pressure. In fact she squeezed so tight some of my fingers cracked, but I ignored the pain. Bella had been crushing my hand for days now, even before she'd opened her eyes after the change. Fortunately, my bones healed up quickly, though Jasper was starting to worry my recuperative powers were going to fail me at this rate.

_I'm telling Carlisle if you don't say something,_ he warned, leaving me feeling like an errant schoolboy. I scowled and then nodded once, wondering how I was supposed to broach the subject without letting Bella know she'd been breaking my fingers…repeatedly.

I led Bella over to one of the leather couches, and we took a seat together. Despite there being plenty of room, she chose to sit close to my side, our thighs pressed together, her lovely brown hair brushing against my shoulder. It was difficult not to grin like an idiot.

Jasper glared at me, and I sighed.

"Bella," I murmured quietly, and she looked up into my eyes. Her long, dark lashes fluttered adorably, and I forgot what I was supposed to say.

_Edward!_ Jasper mentally shouted, and I flinched.

"Um, Bella, you need to hold a little less tightly," I explained apologetically, gently easing her fingers apart where they gripped my broken hand.

"Oh!" she gasped and let go, so I put my arm and broken—_but now healing_—hand around her shoulders. Then I reached across with my good hand to capture hers, unwilling to go without the feel of her fingers entwined with mine...for as long as she would allow it. She stared at me, her brow furrowing with concern. I wanted to smooth out the creases with my fingers, but they were all occupied…or incapacitated.

"It's fine," I murmured. "You're just getting used to your strength. It's not a problem."

"Are you sure?" she whispered. I smiled and was rewarded with the feel of Bella relaxing against me, a dazzled expression on her face.

_Yeah, you got it happening, bro,_ Emmett thought with a mental chuckle.

I didn't disagree.

Carlisle and the rest of the family came and sat in the chairs around us, all except for Esme. She was occupied with finishing off a special project, something Alice predicted would make Bella's transition a little easier. I just hoped she was seeing the whole picture.

We'd spent considerable time debating all the reasons why we might have need of the hidden room below the basement. Emmett thought it would be used to subdue and restrain a rogue vampire, though that would have been quite an undertaking. Alice had suspected it had something to with the wolves, a prediction I'd found highly unlikely, but then again, her vision regarding it had been extremely patchy. Only Jasper had suspected the presence of a newborn vampire in our midst. Unfortunately, we'd still laid the blame for that possibility on the actions of an outside agent…again the rogue vampire theory. We'd certainly not considered that one of us might be to blame…and we should have. It seemed so obvious now.

Carlisle's thoughts redirected my attention, as I heard him mentally rifle through the various ways he could deliver his news to Bella. He'd certainly had plenty of experience during his years as a physician of being the bearer of bad tidings.

"I'm sure you'd like to hear about your family," he said, looking Bella in the eye, his voice calm and compassionate.

Bella shifted to the edge of the seat and I moved with her. She eyed me for a moment, her expression puzzled and her head cocked to the side. I encouraged her with what I hoped was a reassuring smile, and she turned back to Carlisle.

"How…how is Charlie?" She asked, her body tensing beside me.

"As well as can be expected," Carlisle answered somberly. "He's getting a lot of support from Billy Black and Harry Clearwater, so at least the rift between your father and the Quileute elders is healed, but…" He dropped his eyes for a second and I saw what he wasn't saying. Bella's father was devastated and disbelieving of his daughter being taken from him in such a bizarre manner. He was determined to get to the bottom of how the accident had happened, and Carlisle worried that Chief Swan's tenacity and perceptiveness could create problems for us—_more _problems.

"And my mom?" Bella's lips quivered, and I tightened my hold around her shoulders.

"She's not doing too well, but her husband is very supportive," Carlisle answered honestly. "She blames herself for your decision to move to Forks."

Bella moaned and dropped her head, and I stroked her arm with my hand. Jasper was virtually saturated her with calm and comforting emotions, but they were barely keeping her grief in check.

Bella's loss, her pain, it was my fault entirely.

I dropped my head as Rosalie's thought's echoed my own. The rest of my family was hardly oblivious to the part I'd played in this tragedy, but they were ready to move on and support me—_and Bella—_in any way they could. I was glad for Bella, relieved, though not surprised, that my family was so quick to welcome and want to embrace her as part of the family. As for myself, I was not at all sure I deserved such unconditional support.

"Its early days yet, Bella," Carlisle murmured, leaning forward to pat her shoulder. "They're grieving, but they'll recover."

"They shouldn't _have_ to," she cried, pulling back. Jasper was halfway out of his seat, alarmed by Bella's sudden and volatile change of mood, but I gestured for him to stand down.

She was upset, and she had every right to be. Her shield didn't seem to have activated, though, and she hadn't tried to harm Carlisle. She just wasn't receptive to his attempt to comfort her. I was amazed that she tolerated my touch so well, and that she actually seemed to find it soothing.

Rosalie was amazed that she tolerated my being in the same room as her…and that I was still in one piece.

Bella took several deep breaths, her grip once again crushing my fingers, but this time Jasper made no comment.

"Couldn't I let them know I'm all right?" she asked, her voice both plaintive and determined. "I've been thinking about it. I could call them, but I don't think they'd recognize my voice. What about showing them a video? We could come up with some sort of excuse, some reason why I can't see them in person…for a while. I wouldn't mention your names or where I was."

Carlisle shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid that's not an option."

"But _why_? I could stay away until I can control myself but keep in touch via webcam. _You _guys all manage to interact with humans safely…well most of the time. I wouldn't take any risks, and I wouldn't try to see them in person until you were sure I was ready," she pleaded, looking around the room for support.

Bombarded by my family's thoughts, I realized I wasn't the only one feeling deep remorse. Not one of them could meet Bella's eye, except for Carlisle.

"They would see the differences and know that you'd been changed somehow," he responded, his expression sympathetic but implacable. "In time, they'd see that you weren't aging. Humans aren't allowed to know about vampires. If the Volturi discovered that your parents knew about us, their lives would be forfeit and _we," _he gestured to the family, seated around him, "would be punished…severely. The chances any of us would survive are very slim."

Bella sat back, clearly stunned.

"What's a volturi?" she asked, in a small, tremulous voice.

"They're like vampire royalty, thousands of years old and immensely powerful," I explained, looking down into her bewildered expression. "They _police_ the vampire world, for want of a better word, making sure that vampires abide by the rules."

"Vampires have rules?" Her eyebrows arched in surprise. "I thought _normal _vampires were like…serial killers, _really prolific _serial killers. What would they care about rules?"

"One main rule," Jasper answered. "Don't let the humans know we exist."

Bella burst out laughing, the tone bordering on hysterical. She quickly stifled the harsh sound with a choking sob. "Except for the ones they slaughter," she whispered, but of course, we all heard. I wasn't the only one who cringed at her words.

We sat in strained silence for a moment, Alice the first to recover.

"I don't know," she murmured. "I keep seeing…"

I cut her off, not liking the direction of her thoughts. "We can't take the risk, Alice, and you know your visions are subjective. We don't know the circumstances surrounding what you're seeing…or the consequences of assuming your visions are correct. The wolves are blocking so much of your sight; for all we know, Aro's spies may be on their way as we speak. The incident at the school has been all over the news…along with our names. You know Aro would love an excuse to disband us, and he'd take any opportunity to recruit you and Jasper to his guard."

"And you, Edward. Aro would dearly love to have all three of you join him. Bella too, when he discovers her unique talent…which he will, if he decides to pay us a visit," Carlisle warned, reminding me of things I already knew but didn't necessarily want to face. My actions had brought about tension on a number of fronts, and there were many risks to consider. What I _didn't _want was Bella to be worried about any of it.

"It's all right…I understand," Bella murmured, sitting forward again. "I won't do anything to endanger my parents or you guys. I was just hoping…" Her voice trailed away, and she bit her lip in a failed attempt to stop it wobbling.

"Ah, Bella," I whispered and pulled her close, encircling her with my arms and rubbing her back with soft, soothing strokes. I half expected her to push me away, but despite the fact that I was the cause of all the grief and misery she was being forced to endure, she pressed her body against mine and clung to me, sobbing against my shoulder.

Bella's pain burned worse than venom.

I wanted to run and hide from her sadness and my shame, but as per my family's orders, I 'manned up' and held her close, crooning soothing words close to her ear.

My family's thoughts surprised me and I looked up, while continuing to rub my cheek softly against Bella's hair. They were watching us closely, watching _me _closely, their expressions ranging from concerned, to bemused, to downright ecstatic, their thoughts revealing that they were thrilled to see me like this…enthralled.

All except for Rosalie, of course, who was shaking her head, one perfectly sculptured eyebrow raised sardonically.

_You so don't deserve her._ Rose's mental tone was acerbic, but resigned.

_I don't have her_, I thought, clutching Bella closer and feeling the corresponding tightening of her arms around me. Well actually, I _did, _in my arms…for now.

_Just let her cry,_ Jasper thought and I nodded. He was doing what he could to comfort her without numbing her emotions completely. She needed to grieve.

After what felt like an interminable length of time but was only a matter of minutes, Bella cried herself out and sat up, rubbing her face. One benefit of vampire 'tears' was the absence of excess fluids and facial blotchiness. But the pain was real enough.

"Feeling any better?" I asked. She gave a little shrug and leaned her head against my shoulder, the soft cloud of her hair brushing against my jaw. I inhaled her sweet scent deep into my lungs, then sighed with relief. She hadn't pushed me away…yet.

"There's one thing I don't understand," she said after a moment. "If the wolves can interfere with Alice's ability to see the future, why don't you just hunt them or drive them away? I mean, not that I've got anything against wolves, but they're predators, right? Don't you guys, er..._drink _predators?"

Bella's words caused quite a stir in everyone's thoughts.

"_Don't_ you...?" she asked again when nobody answered.

I looked to Carlisle, relieved when he decided to take it upon himself to address her question.

"These aren't ordinary wolves, Bella. Remember when I told you that there were other intelligent species inhabiting the earth, besides humans?"

Bella nodded, then her eyes went wide. "You mean, like _werewolves!_"

"Technically, these particular wolves are shape-shifters, not true werewolves. But yes, we're talking about men who can take the shape of wolves…at will," he explained calmly.

"_Giant_ wolves," Emmett muttered.

Bella sat back, clearly stunned. In many ways, I loved the fact that I couldn't hear her thoughts. The peace I experienced around her, the challenge I felt at having to _discover_ the workings of her mind, was exhilarating. But in this instant, I would have given a great deal to know what she was thinking.

"So…" she said after a moment, her expression intense. "You're saying there are people living near Forks—_local people—_who can change into wolves?" She looked up at Carlisle, and her mouth fell open. "You're talking about Sam Uley and his pack. They're an _actual_ pack…of wolves!"

I wasn't the only one of my family impressed by Bella's perceptiveness.

Carlisle nodded, and Bella tensed, both hands fisting tightly. I reluctantly removed my arm from around her shoulder and gently eased the fingers crushing my good hand.

"Jacob," she whispered. "That's what happened to him. He turned into a wolf._"_

"The shape-shifting ability emerges in the young men of the Quileute tribe if there are vampires in the area." Carlisle nodded, confirming Bella's suspicion. "We've only fairly recently realized that it is the presence of our kind that triggers the gene to activate.

"We first met the Quileute wolves many years ago and formed a treaty with the current pack's great-grandfathers. They would let us live and hunt in peace if we refrained from hurting humans and stayed off their land. When we decided to return to this area, we renewed the treaty with their current pack leader, Sam Uley. He and two others had already made the transformation as other vampires had been here before us. That number has increased dramatically since we moved back.

"We've considered leaving so as not to trigger any more transformations, but this region has become popular for nomadic vampires attracted by the climate and isolation. Now that we're here, we act as a deterrent to help keep them away, as they pick up our scent and assume this is our hunting territory. Unfortunately, the genetic imperative that triggers the Quileute transformations cannot distinguish between _traditional_ vampires and those of us who pose no threat to humans." Rosalie snorted. "Well, we don't _usually_ pose any threat," he admitted reluctantly, throwing me an apologetic glance.

As if I would take offense. He merely spoke the truth.

Bella listened avidly…hanging on Carlisle's every word.

"The Quileute wolves protect humans from vampires?" she asked. Carlisle nodded and she murmured absently. "So _that's _why Jake warned me to stay away from you guys."

We were stunned. The _other _way the treaty could be broken was if either side revealed their secret.

"How much did he tell you?" I demanded. Bella flinched at my tone, and I quickly softened my expression.

"Clearly not enough," she answered wryly. "I thought he was delusional, warning me to stay away from dangerous, but strangely 'appealing,' high school students. So you're saying these wolves pose some sort of threat to you guys?"

"Yes, Bella," Jasper answered this time. "They're our only real threat—besides _other_ vampires—the only creatures that can do us any physical damage."

"Rip you apart with their teeth if enough of them catch you alone," Emmett grumbled, punching his open hand with his fist.

"But not _you guys_," Bella said urgently. "They wouldn't attack you, not unless one of you…" she stopped speaking abruptly and turned to me, a look of horror dawning on her face.

"It's all right, Bella. They don't know I broke the treaty. Carlisle and Jasper convinced them we both perished in the fire…that it was an accident." I spoke quickly to try and allay her panic.

"But we can't stay here, Edward. What if they found out the truth? Wouldn't that put you at risk?"

I was gratified at her concern for my safety, but worried about how she'd feel when she realized she was in as much peril as I was, if not more. Nothing was more dangerous to humans than a newborn vampire, and the Quileutes were not ignorant of this fact.

"We're working on how to get you both out of the area as soon as possible," Carlisle replied without answering directly. "It's a little complicated, Bella, but please don't worry. You're safe here…_both_ of you."

Bella's eyes widened, and I gave Carlisle a pointed look.

_We can't hide the truth from her Edward. She'll find out soon enough, and she needs to know the risks._

Jasper's thoughts aligned with Carlisle's. While I could understand their logic, I would have done just about anything to avoid causing her more distress.

"Sam and the other…other _wolves_ mustn't find out about me, because then they'd know the treaty has been broken. That's why I have to leave?" Bella asked, her expression wary.

"Yes, that's why," I answered firmly. "You're safe. There's nothing to worry about."

I could hear my family's mental protests, but at least they didn't voice them aloud.

"You two had better head back down to the basement," Alice advised reluctantly. "I'm sorry I can't be more definite, but I'm _fairly_ sure we'll have visitors early this morning. Some of Carlisle's workmates from the hospital are determined to pay their respects and drop off some meals." She rolled her eyes. "And I _think_ they'll be visiting before their shift starts."

Nodding, I stood, Bella rising with me. I was grateful to Alice for the interruption and for _one _aspect of Bella's status as a newborn…the difficulty she experienced staying focused. Distracting her from the more unpleasant and frightening aspects of her new life was one of the few ways I could comfort her…and the very least I could do.

_~OB~_

_**Mmm...hours trapped alone in the basement together. Whatever will they get up to?**_

_**Please leave a review. I love to hear what you think; it's very encouraging—usually—and inspires me to keep writing. You guys have given me some terrific ideas, as well as poking some well-deserved holes in my occasional lapses of logic!**_

_**xxx TLS**_


	11. Confused and Conflicted

_**Thanks, as always, to Stephenie Meyers for her wonderful creation.**_

_**ONCE BITTEN HAS A BANNER! I'm not sure if you can tell, but I'm rather excited about this development and seriously thrilled with the result… it is awesome! Thank you so much to Beckaboo924, you talented, quite possibly psychic, banner-making star! The link to the banner is on my profile page. Check it out.**_

_**As always, thank you so much to my amazing Betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, who not only have way cooler pen-names than mine but manage to make such wonderful sense of my chaotic ramblings.**_

_**This chapter is still a bit 'talky,' but I promise there is action ahead of both the 'blood' and the 'lust' variety. That's all I'm saying about that.**_

_**Posted: Sunday July 17th 2011  
>Words: 4177<strong>_

Chapter 11

Confused and Conflicted

BPOV

I knew Edward was hiding something but decided to let it go…for the time being. There were only so many new dimensions to reality a person could absorb in one day. And then there was my bizarre behavior. Jasper might think that mood swings were normal, "_for a_ _newborn_," but I felt like I was suffering from multiple personality disorder.

The way I'd behaved toward Edward, in _front of his family_, was so embarrassing. One minute I was attacking him, the next I couldn't bear to let him out of my sight. Sitting with his arm around me had felt like I'd died and gone to heaven…compared with after he'd bitten me, when I felt like I'd died and gone to hell.

It wasn't as if I hadn't spent time with guys my own age before, mostly Jake and his friends from the reservation, but noone had ever made me feel the way Edward did. When I'd sat beside him, my leg pressed against his long muscular thigh, the weight of his arm resting across my shoulders, and his hand gently caressing my arm…the fear, the confusion, even the _grief _that threatened to overwhelm me had simply melted away. I'd been left with a feeling of peace, of complete and utter 'rightness,' of finally, _finally_ belonging, in a way I'd never experienced before.

Until the peace had been ripped away like a band aid off a raw wound.

Not wanting to think about how my family were coping—or _not _coping—I let my erratic thoughts wander back to earlier in the evening. The girls seemed to think Edward liked me, but I wasn't sure. If he wasn't interested in three gorgeous vampires, why would he want me? I might look a lot better as a vampire than I did as a human, but it still seemed more likely that guilt, or even worse…_pity_, was motivating him to offer me comfort.

And, of course, I wasn't even sure if Edward was interested in girls. He seemed pretty nonchalant about the fact that I'd broken most of the bones in his hand…something that I had a feeling I'd done more than once. _That_ took courage. Not that he couldn't be gay and brave, of course…thousands of gay soldiers were brave every day, so that didn't mean anything. It was just that I'd never had a gay friend before…but I did watch television, so I tried to remember how Edward compared to the characters in my favorite shows. When he wasn't giving in to his inner monster, he seemed kind, compassionate, and clearly worried about my feelings…

_Oh crap,_ I thought gloomily as we descended the stairs to the basement. Charlie was kind, but he was oblivious unless I figuratively slapped him in the face with how I felt. Phil would never deliberately hurt anyone, but Renee had said more than once that she had to use baseball analogies to get him to understand her. Jake used to seem to understand me…a little, but recently he was focused on what I now realized must be pack business, and I'd been delegated to second place.

_Damn it._ The evidence was stacking up, and _not_ in my favor.

I looked up at Edward and caught him watching me closely. His fingers were entwined with mine and his thumb slowly stroked the back of my hand, sending sensations, both warm and enticing, radiating up my arm. He did that a lot, I'd noticed…watched me…touched me. That didn't mean he _wasn't _gay, but it made me wonder. Could touching me affect him the same way it affected me?

Argh! This was so frustrating! How could I tell whether his actions were just evidence of how badly he felt for what he did or if he might actually be interested in me?

I shook off the distracting thought and dragged my mind back into focus. This newborn madness seemed to affect my concentration _and_ induce bouts of wishful thinking, but I was determined not to allow it to dictate my life.

I wasn't looking forward to having to hide out in the cold, dusty room below the basement. It wasn't small, probably one hundred and fifty feet square with a ten foot ceiling, but it didn't exactly hold pleasant memories. I wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that I'd killed an animal to sate my incredible thirst, or the memory of going crazy and almost tearing Edward apart afterward? Sure, I'd been angry when I'd remembered him _biting_ me in the middle of class, and even angrier when I'd realized that he was to blame for my not being able to go home…but to try and _kill_ him? To literally rip pieces out of him with my teeth and tear off his arm?I couldn't remember ever deliberately hurting another person in my life, and was shocked and appalled by my actions. I'd have to say something, to apologize I supposed, but it was all a little overwhelming.

Alice and Rosalie accompanied us down to the basement, Rosalie staying quiet, her expression giving little away. I wondered if she was still angry with me for keeping so close to Edward, and could certainly understand why she would feel that way. But when I weighed up the benefits of trying to win her approval by distancing myself from Edward, versus making the most of what was sure to be a very temporary situation…staying close to Edward won hands down. Alice, on the other hand, was fairly humming with excitement.

When we reached the basement it was barely recognizable, with walls, floor, and ceiling lined with layer upon layer of rippled foam material. I faltered, staring around me in confusion.

"It's sound-proofing," Edward explained.

Cringing, I remembered how I'd reacted to the sound of the deer's heartbeat. It was hard to believe I'd react the same way if I heard a human heartbeat, but they clearly weren't taking any chances.

Esme was waiting for us at the bottom of the second set of stairs, her hands clasped tightly in front of her and an anxious expression on her face.

"I hope we've done the right thing," she said uncertainly. "Alice was _fairly_ sure this would be helpful, but if we've made a mistake please let us know, and we'll change things immediately."

I had no idea what she was talking about. Frowning, I glanced up at Edward who gave me an encouraging smile, so nodding hesitantly I followed Esme into the hidden room, before jolting to a stop.

It was my bedroom from Charlie's house…_exactly_.

The damage I'd done to the walls had been repaired, and they'd been painted the same blue-green shade as my room at home. Everything else was identical to my new/old bedroom, well almost. The bed was bigger, the rocking chair a slightly different design, and the laptop on the desk by the wall looked much newer than my old computer, but the fairy lights strung around the room, the pictures, photos, bedspread, and knickknacks that I'd collected or been given over the years, were all the same.

"Oh, no…." I whispered, horrified. "You can't do this." Their faces fell, but I couldn't afford to worry about hurt feelings.

"Look, I really appreciate what you've done, but you can't do this to Charlie. He'll think he's been robbed, and that will create questions in his mind. I mean, why would someone steal my things? And he and Mom will be devastated to lose all my stuff."

"It's okay." Alice stepped forward to pat my arm. "The originals are still in your old room…and these are all replicas. We've been sneaking in when Charlie's out to take pictures and make copies, reproducing everything as closely to the original as possible…though there are a few minor differences. And the curtains don't actually cover a window, of course."

It took a moment for Alice's words to make sense, but when they did, my panic began to subside. Absently, I noted that my shield hadn't activated when I'd become upset, which was something...I supposed.

I took a tentative step into the room and looked around. It was so similar to my real bedroom that I could almost fool myself into thinking I was back home.

Almost.

Grief hit hard, shattering my relative calm. My eyes closed and I swayed on my feet as pain, raw and terrible, crashed over me like a wave. Snatching my hand from Edward, I wrapped both arms around my middle, nearly doubling over, the agony was so intense.

"Bella, what can I do to help?" Edward spoke softly, close to my ear, but I motioned him away with a shake of my head. I _needed_ to feel this. I _should _feel this, and holding his hand might make it go away.

I let myself sink into the sea of pain and loss as my parent's faces swam before me…favorite times, painful times, the _last _time I'd seen them both, and I grasped for the memories, a sweet, painful lifeline to reality. The pictures were a little fuzzy, and Jasper's advice about recounting my human memories if I wanted to retain them rose to the surface of my grief-ravaged mind.

"We're so sorry," Esme whispered hoarsely. "We'll take everything away, change the décor, make it neutral."

"No, it's okay," I rasped, shuddering as I fought my way to the surface. I pushed against the grief and it yielded, like sticky, malleable tar. With effort, I forced it to the back of my mind. It was still there, of course, but manageable, contained…for now. There were clearly some benefits to my new, and supposedly advanced, brain. I'd never felt so out of control before in my life, so it was nice to have a say over my thoughts and emotions, even if it was just a little.

"It's all right," I muttered, slowly straightening up and gesturing to the room. "This is good. It will help me to remember my human life, my family. I don't want to forget _anything_."

Edward hung his head at my words. Just when I started to think he might feel something for me other than guilt, my hopes were dashed. I thought of telling him he could leave, that I'd be fine without him…but I knew I'd be lying. Instead, I closed the distance between us, drawn to his side by the ever-present urge I felt to be near him.

_What was with that? _I'd never had a crush before so this was all very new to me. Even so, I couldn't understand where this intense longing came from. I _wasn't_ the needy, attention-seeking type…at least I never had been. I'd always thought of myself as quite independent, more inclined to take care of those around me than needing to be taken care of.

Maybe that was it? Maybe I was responding to Edward's guilt with a desire to reassure him?

That seemed a stretch, but all I knew for sure was that being away from Edward was painful, and when he held my hand, or held me close, everything felt…better.

Reaching out, I touched his shoulder, and his body went completely still...like a statue.

"Edward?" I gasped, breathing deep, inhaling his incredible scent. Sweet and heady, it warmed and soothed and pushed the pain and darkness to the farthest recesses of my mind. He took a deep breath in return before looking up to meet my gaze. His beautiful, perfect, arresting face, drawn with sadness and regret…over me.

"Do you think you could help me?" I offered tentatively,

He nodded and reached out to take my hand in his, and we both sighed, the breath escaping our lungs and mingling together to create a new, even sweeter scent.

I'd been right, earlier. Just touching Edward made the pain and hurt fade away almost to nothing. It would have been so easy to stay standing right there in the middle of that strange replica of my room, mesmerized indefinitely. But Edward tensed and spun to face the open door.

"Carlisle's workmates are coming down the drive," he warned, and the others left us with a brief goodbye. The door slammed, and I heard the distinct sound of locks being turned.

"We're locked in?" I couldn't hide the apprehension in my voice.

"Don't worry…it's more a psychological barrier than anything else. We could force our way out easily enough, or dig out for that matter. We're just trying to make this as easy for you as we can," Edward explained, his tone rueful but his expression somber. "You don't want to hurt anyone, and we'll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen. You didn't choose this life, Bella, and the last thing any of us want is for you to be burdened by any more regrets than you already have."

I nodded, then decided this was as good a time as any to ask some of the questions that had been building in my mind.

"How come you could hear the people arriving when I couldn't?"

"I heard their _thoughts,_ not the sound of their vehicle," he explained.

"So you hear everyone's thoughts, within a certain range, or just the ones you choose to hear?" I asked, curious about his ability.

"Unfortunately, I hear _everything _within about a half mile radius, further if I concentrate and am familiar with the person. I've learned ways to drown out the worst of the noise, but it nearly drove me insane when I first came into contact with humans. After my change, there was only Carlisle and myself to worry about. But when the others joined the family, I had to learn to cope."

I nodded, shocked as I considered the awful downside to Edward's talent.

"How _do_ you cope?" I asked, and he smiled…just an odd half-smile, but it did very strange things to my stomach. I found myself smiling in response and then dropped my head, embarrassed.

Did I have no shame where he was concerned? One minute I was nearly flattened by grief, the next I was flirting with my possibly gay attacker!

"Shall we sit?" I asked, before Edward had a chance to answer. I didn't feel the need to sit, but it felt odd for us to be standing in the middle of the room while we talked. And I needed the distraction.

Fortunately, Edward nodded and we both turned to face the room. But then I faltered. In copying my room so closely, Esme and Alice had only left us the rocking chair to sit on…or the bed. I'd yet to buy a computer chair for my desk at home, and the one in this room was missing the chair as well. I _could_ have let go of his hand so we could take a chair each, but I didn't.

"Ahh…we could sit on the bed, if that's all right with you?" Edward offered in a rush, and my shoulders sagged in relief at his suggestion. He ran his free hand roughly through his hair, messing it up even more than it already was, and eyed me anxiously. It made no sense, but he seemed as nervous as I was.

"Sure," I nodded, and we moved over to perch on the edge of the bed, facing each other with our hands still securely linked.

"You asked how I've learned to cope with my gift," he said, breaking the silence, and I inched a little closer, eager to hear his explanation. "Human thoughts are much easier to block out than vampire. After decades of practice, I can mostly choose _who_ I listen to, or _where_ I look, otherwise school would never have been an option for me." He said this as if it was a good thing, then looked down, hunching his shoulders.

"Go on," I urged, hoping to distract him from his brow-beating. "What do you mean by 'look?'"

"I can see through other people's eyes whatever they're imagining or remembering, as well as hearing their conscious thoughts. I don't see or hear everything a person has ever thought or experienced, just what they're seeing, hearing or thinking about at that moment in time."

"That must be…_interesting_," I murmured.

Edward laughed. "It's actually incredibly predictable, and annoying…_especially_ spending time around teenagers."

"Then why do you do it?" I asked the question I'd wanted answered since waking up a newly-created member of an alternate species. Besides the obvious risks I'd already berated them over, I couldn't understand why such supposedly powerful, immortal beings would waste their time going to high school?

Edward smiled before answering, his expression indulgent. "Because Carlisle loves practicing medicine, and Esme is happiest when the family all live together. The younger we pretend to be when we start out in a new location the longer we can stay, though ten years is about our limit before people notice we're not aging. We've stayed longer in more remote locations but only by living as virtual hermits and avoiding making connections. Personally, I prefer it that way, but I wanted the others to be happy, and they enjoy living more sociably."

"I have a feeling they'll be reconsidering that in future," I remarked wryly.

Looking down at our joined hands, he shrugged. "Life's getting increasingly difficult for us in this new technological age. Some things are easier, such as transferring funds and creating new identities, but with face recognition technology and social media sites, flying under the radar is becoming more challenging. Don't worry though," he said when I frowned in concern, "Jasper is a genius at strategy, Alice _usually _foresees any problems before they occur, and Emmett's a technological whiz…which might come as a bit of a surprise. Then there is my ability to read minds, or course. Between us we're very good at making sure we stay one step ahead of trouble…well usually." His shoulders dropped, and he looked like he was going to start beating himself up again. He certainly had cause, but I really did want to hear what he had to say.

"So you show up in photos?" I asked. "I mean, that's what you're saying about Facebook and security footage?"

He smirked, his eyes meeting mine. "Yes, we most definitely show up in photos, and no, we don't have an aversion to garlic, other than the smell, which I personally find quite disgusting. We're not affected by silver, stakes, holy water or crosses. You might be surprised to know that most of the family consider themselves to be Christians…of sorts. It would seem that not even a species-changing event can affect the beliefs and values one develops as a child."

I didn't know what to say to that so just nodded as I contemplated Edward's revelations.

"What about sunlight? You attend school in the daytime, so you must be able to go out in it…that's if you can _find_ any in Forks. Oh!" I sat back. "Is that why you chose to settle here, because there's hardly ever any sunshine?"

Edward's eyes widened, and then he grinned. "You're incredibly perceptive, Bella. That's exactly why we like it here, though not because we can't go out in the sunlight—it does us no harm—but because our identities would be exposed. We look, er…_different_ to humans in sunlight, different enough to cause quite a stir."

"How?" I puzzled, and then stared at the skin on Edward's forearm below his rolled up shirt. It glowed faintly under the fairy lights. I looked to my own skin and saw that it did the same…shimmering slightly with an odd luminescence.

"It might be easier if I just show you sometime," he answered, his voice a little muffled as he dropped his head.

"Is it bad?" I asked, and he shrugged again.

"Alice and Rose think the effect is pretty, but I've always found it disconcerting. Highly visible proof of our _not _being human, of our being…" He broke off and looked away.

"Being what?" I asked, _gently_ squeezing his hand. He returned the pressure and looked up, his expression pleading.

"I was going to say, of our being 'monsters,' Bella, but I could never think of you like that, and I don't want you to think of yourself that way."

"I won't…I _don't_," I assured him, but then I reconsidered. "Well maybe a little_._ I feel like I killed Bambi yesterday, and I…I'm going to have to do it again," I finished on a whimper. While the burn in my throat was fainter since I'd fed, it hadn't gone away completely, and I could feel it gradually worsening as the day wore on.

"That part gets easier," Edward assured me earnestly, though I wasn't convinced. "At least you weren't an _actual_ vegetarian before you changed. You did eat meat, didn't you?"

"Just never had to go out and kill the cow myself before," I muttered.

Edward smiled. "We call ourselves 'vegetarians' because we only drink the blood of animals, not people," he joked half-heartedly, then his smile faded, and he looked away.

"So you kind of fell off the wagon, the other day?"

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I…" He pulled his hands from mine, and ran them through his hair.

"It's all right," I blurted, surprising us both. _How was it all right?_ _He'd tried to kill me!_ I wasn't sure that 'forgive and forget' should apply under the circumstances.

"What do you mean?" He shook his head, frowning and clearly puzzled.

I shrugged and looked down at my hands, my thoughts conflicted_._ If anyone had told me that I would kill a defenseless deer with my _bare_ hands, drink its blood, and _enjoy_ doing it, I'd have said they were insane. Edward hadn't wanted to hurt me, of that I was certain. He'd fought an agonizing battle…and lost, the predator within too strong to resist.

I sighed, conceding that I might be making excuses for what he'd done because I needed him…_liked_ him.

"It sounds crazy, but if you guys are right and given the chance I would attack _my own family_…" I shuddered. "It makes it a bit difficult for me to judge, I suppose."

"You'll learn to control the bloodlust, but it's nearly impossible when you're a newborn. Once it takes hold it's incredibly difficult to resist," Edward explained, sitting forward. "Vampires who regularly feed on humans become so consumed by it that the remnants of their human lives fade away until they can barely recall who they were. Eventually, all traces of their humanity, of compassion and decency, are leeched away, and they truly are monsters. I thought I was above all that, beyond temptation, but then I smelled your blood and it was as if nothing else mattered." He shook his head slowly, his expression becoming haunted as his voice dropped to a whisper. "I tried to resist…"

A sob broke from his lips and he dropped his head. Tentatively, I reached out to touch his arm…the arm I'd torn off only the day before, something else for me to take into consideration. I might not be ready to offer complete and unconditional forgiveness, but watching him cry _hurt, _like his pain was my own.

"Hey," I murmured. "I know you're sorry." I shrugged, struggling to find the words I wanted to say. "Do you think we can put it behind us for now? Because I really need your help, so that I don't accidentally hurt someone I care about…or _anyone_ for that matter."

His eyes met mine, his beautiful face masked with anguish. "I'll do everything I can to make it up to you, I promise," he whispered, and my heart sank. I didn't want his guilt; though I wasn't ready to think about what I _did_ want. Instead, I settled on something I thought might distract us both.

"How about some help with making sure I don't lose my memories? It's like Jasper and Carlisle said; everything that's happened since the burning stopped is crystal clear, but my life before that is starting to feel…fuzzy. I don't want to forget anything."

Edward continued to look at me for another moment, his expression solemn. Then with a quick shake of his head he seemed to come to a decision. To my surprise, he stood and bowed with a flourish. "I am at your service, m'lady. One session in 'memory preservation,' coming up."

I giggled and then covered my mouth with my hand. I was not normally a 'giggler,' but Edward didn't seem to mind, rewarding me with a sad, sweet smile.

_~OB~_

_**Thanks for reading. Reviews are greatly appreciated and answered **_**fairly**_** promptly whenever possible. :D**_

_**As promised, interesting times ahead… ;)**_

_**xxx TLS**_


	12. Memories and Blood

_**Thanks to Stephanie Meyers for her addictive, life-changing, **__**obsession-inducing creation. Actually, I don't know if I should be thanking her or sending her the account for my therapy sessions. ;)**_

_**My heartfelt thanks go**__** to Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar – WBBs – World's Best Betas!**_

_**Don't forget to check out the amazing banner that Beckaboo924 made for Once Bitten. The link is on my profile page. **_

_**Thanks for all the wonderful, encouraging and inspirational reviews. You guys giv**__**e me some great ideas and lots of motivation to keep writing.**_

_**You can thank my Betas for this extra long chapter. I was going to split it into two as there is a POV change in the middle…and a fairly big change of pace, but they convinced me to post it as one chapter. For those of you who've been hoping for some action – it's here!**_

_**Posted: Saturday, July 23**__**rd**__** 2011, ridiculously early – it's 3am but I can't sleep!  
>Words: 6916<strong>_

Chapter 12

Memories

EPOV

I looked around the room and considered my options. Bella needed my help, and I'd be eternally damned before I let her down again…well, damned _twice_. Jasper had just finished mentally warning me that my self-loathing and castigation were only adding to Bella's distress, so I decided to try and lighten the mood.

With rapid movements, I repositioned the pillows at the head of the bed, kicked off my shoes, and lay down on the far side of the mattress before patting the space beside me. Her eyes widened, and I froze.

_Too much? Too soon?_

It had seemed like a good idea, but I was worried I'd given her the wrong impression. I should have just sat on the edge of the bed like we'd done earlier, but I wanted her to feel relaxed and comfortable since the process of remembering her life was bound to be an emotionally stressful experience.

"I lay beside you for three days and talked incessantly. It's time for payback," I teased, hoping she would take the bait and let me do something—however small—to begin to repay the enormous debt I owed her.

I'd taken everything from Bella: her family, her friends, the normal, happy, human life she should have lived. I didn't know her plans for the future, whether she'd had dreams to study, or travel, or for a family of her own. But whatever those plans had been, they would never be fulfilled the way that she'd expected...because of me. I couldn't give back the life I'd stolen from her, nor could I take away the pain of her losses. But right now, preserving her human memories was Bella's priority, which made it the most important thing in my world.

Bella hesitated a moment longer, eyeing me—_and the bed_—warily, but then she shrugged, kicked off her shoes and lay down beside me. She'd said that holding my hand helped her to feel calmer and more in control, so in a move that even Emmett would have described as bold, I guided her head onto my shoulder and reached across our bodies to capture her hand in mine. She nestled in against me, her warm, supple body curving along my side, and I sighed with relief. It would have been incredibly easy to never move again…but I had a job to do.

"So, why don't you start at the beginning? What's your earliest memory?" I asked, looking down into her breathtakingly beautiful face. Her forehead wrinkled, and I had to resist the urge to lean down and kiss the top of her head.

_That would probably be too bold_, I mused, wondering where Alice and Jasper were when I needed them.

My family usually didn't hesitate to critique my every move, silently if not verbally. Alice's and Jasper's talents would have made their insights invaluable, but the soundproofing was working all too well. Bella couldn't hear the humans visiting above, but neither could my family hear us below. Fortunately Jasper could still monitor our moods and had managed to send me a few thoughts of advice—namely to lighten up—which seemed to be working if the feel of Bella relaxing against my side was anything to go by.

Alice continued searching the future, but her visions were still flawed and patchy. Bella was showing up more and more as her life became distanced from the wolves, but the pictures weren't making any sense. They kept showing Bella and Charlie together, so I knew we couldn't put much faith in what Alice was seeing just yet.

Bella took a deep breath, her body pressing close to mine, then she started talking, the first memory leading naturally to the next. I listened intently, reflecting back what she said, asking probing questions when she faltered, commenting where appropriate and giving her my full and undivided attention—all those psych units I'd taken in college, coming in handy. As Bella continued to talk, sharing one memory after another, I was avidly creating a mental image of her life. Once she recounted a memory, she would never forget it…and neither would I.

In my very long life, I'd occasionally felt a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information stored in my brain. But these new stories, and the images they helped to create, were ones I knew I would treasure forever.

I smiled at the picture of the young and very cute Bella that formed in my mind. She rolled her eyes at my expression, and my smile faded. I was developing the distinct impression that she saw herself as clumsy, awkward, and anything but the adorable child she must have been. Why didn't she see herself clearly? Had the humans in Bella's life been somehow ignorant of the amazing creature they'd had in their midst, or did Bella just not realize how special she was?

As she recounted her childhood stories, a picture slowly emerged of Bella's relationship with her parents. Disconcertingly, I became more and more convinced that _Bella_ had done the majority of the caretaking in the relationships, and not the other way around. Bella's mother, in particular, did not sound like a very responsible or stable individual, though there was no doubting the love Bella felt for both of her parents.

Several times, as she spoke of her family and friends, her voice wavered and she was forced to take a break. All I could do was hold her and gently rub her arm, waiting for her to regain her composure so that she could continue.

Those were the hardest times, when every second felt like an eternity.

At other times, the hours passed like minutes.

What had been intended as a short sojourn in the hidden room while Carlisle's workmates paid their respects, turned into an all-day affair, as one group of local citizens arrived just as the previous made their escape. Word had spread that the Cullens were receiving visitors. While many approached the house with trepidation and some were clearly motivated by morbid curiosity, it was gratifying to hear the kind and generous thoughts that most of the locals had toward Carlisle and Esme. The townspeople of Forks had taken my parents to heart, and while they barely knew who I was, they were eager to show their support and sympathy for my supposed loss.

It was a difficult day for all concerned.

While we were all quite expert at creating whatever image was required to maintain our privacy, we'd never had to pretend we were suffering from such a serious bereavement before. Rosalie, in particular, struggled to keep up the 'grieving sister' charade and had to be escorted from the room when it all got to be 'too much' for her. The thoughts she sent my way were less than flattering as she stormed through the house, infuriated and disgusted that she'd had to sit there listening to strangers sing my praises as I was eulogized ad nauseam.

_Maybe if you _did _die I'd be a little upset, _she grumbled as she huffed up the stairs to her room, _but I'll be damned if I can keep up this pretense much longer. Bella might be willing to forgive and forget, but that's only because she's nothing but a bundle of raging newborn vampire hormones. You've gotten off far too lightly, Edward. I hope Bella tears off an even more painful part of your anatomy when she calms down enough to really think this through._

I shuddered, worrying that Rosalie's words may well prove prophetic. She was right about one thing; Bella did seem to want to put what I'd done behind us…for now. But I didn't, for one moment, believe that my actions would not come back to haunt me. I had far from paid for my sins and expected to be held fully accountable in the future.

Fortunately Bella didn't seem to notice the passing of time; at least...she didn't comment on the _length_ of time we spent locked in the underground room. To my relief she continued to talk, sharing her precious and beguiling memories with me.

Whether I deserved to hear them was another matter entirely.

When she eventually ran out of words I encouraged her to tell me about the photos and mementos that decorated the room, triggering more memories and more stories to spill from her lips. The photos and files that Alice had transferred to Bella's new laptop provided a wealth of fascinating information.

The photos were the best, and confirmed my suspicions that Bella had been a truly adorable child—skinny, with knobby knees, hair in pigtails and the cutest grin imaginable. Though I don't think Bella was all that pleased with my seeing the pictures of her younger self—further proof that she had a particularly inaccurate view of the lovely young girl she had been—I was charmed. It was easy to see the family likenesses to both her father, Charlie, with his dark eyes and serious countenance, and her mother, Renee, who bore a striking physical likeness to her daughter but I suspected, was not so similar in temperament.

The photos of Bella with Jacob Black and his friends from the reservation were difficult for me to view. The body language revealed in the pictures made it obvious she'd been very relaxed in his company, though she seemed to treat the boy in a rather familial fashion. The way he looked at her was altogether different, though I received the impression that Bella was not necessarily aware of how the dog felt about her. Not being able to read her thoughts, I couldn't say for sure, though I imagined Jasper could discern the answer if I asked the right questions when he was close enough to read her emotional response.

Or I could just ask Bella how she felt about him…if I was brave enough.

She seemed especially close to a young Quileute called Seth, and she recounted numerous stories of his escapades when she and Jake had babysat the younger boy while his parents were busy. The boy seemed harmless enough, but the hackles on my neck remained permanently raised as I listened to Bella's stories of the summers she spent at the reservation while her father visited his Quileute friends.

No wonder Alice hadn't been able to get a fix on Bella's future. She'd not only associated with current and prospective members of the wolf pack every summer, she'd practically been part of the tribe!

I was very relieved when we'd viewed the last of the photos and turned to Bella's rather eclectic music collection. She hadn't seemed to notice my growing tension, but I'd come awfully close to growling uncontrollably and probably would have if I'd had to see one more picture of her with Jacob Black's arm slung casually but possessively around her shoulder.

Bella's musical tastes caught me by surprise. Due to her mother's influence, Bella had an appreciation for both classical music and the classic bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s. Her tastes were strikingly similar to my own. Neither of us thought much of the music of the 90s, or the current rave/dance trends, but Bella's appreciation for popular Indie bands triggered some lively discussion. She was fascinated by the fact that I had first-hand knowledge of the majority of musicians we discussed, having seen most artists or bands from Elvis and The Beatles, through to Linkin Park and Coldplay, live at one time or another.

"So, you guys get to go to concerts, and travel, and do normal stuff?" She seemed intrigued by this idea.

"Yes, we do," I agreed, smiling. I wanted to reassure her that life as a vampire wouldn't always be about hidden rooms and uncontrollable urges. "And besides high school, we've all attended college, several times, as well as working in various fields of interest."

"College? And careers?" Bella didn't try to hide her surprise.

I nodded and told her about my interests in both medical research and musical composition, and the various interests and hobbies that the others pursued on occasion. Bella went quiet for a while, looking pensive.

"But there must be limits to what you can do, what with looking so young."

I shrugged in acknowledgment. Immortality was not without its down-side, of course. I would be the _last_ member of my family to try and sell the benefits of the vampire lifestyle, well other than Rosalie, though I think she appreciated the perpetually attractive aspect whereas I really couldn't have cared less.

Well, maybe I cared a little…now that Bella had come into my life.

I asked Bella all the usual questions: her favorite colors, flowers, movies, and of course...books. She enjoyed the classics, Shakespeare and Austen being amongst her favorites. Everything about her was fascinating, absorbing, and never to be forgotten.

The day had almost reached a close when Bella began to recount events from more recent times. I heard all about her reasons for moving to Forks, how she felt about leaving her mother, her friends, and the sunshine of Phoenix, and coming to live permanently in wet, overcast, and dismal Forks.

Then Bella reached the day we met…and she hesitated.

"You're a very good listener," she said, after a long pause. "The _best _listener I've ever met." She sounded resigned, her expression rueful, and I wondered how being a good listener could be a bad thing.

"Sorry if I've bored you with all this talk," she continued, and I reached across to lightly chuck her chin so she would look at me again. She'd dropped her head, hiding her eyes from my view, which I found totally unacceptable.

"You could _never _bore me, Isabella Swan," I said with all the vampire charm—and sheer determination—I could muster. She smiled, but ducked her head again. She seemed to be studying our joined hands and the way our thumbs were absently tangling together, and I wondered if it could possibly feel as wonderful to Bella as it did to me.

As much as I'd enjoyed lying beside Bella, and could have quite easily remained in that position for the entire day withut moving a muscle, we'd sat up after a while to more easily see each other's faces. I'd delighted in the feel of Bella's head tucked against my shoulder as we lent against the headboard, but we'd ended up sitting cross-legged, facing each other and holding hands in between her trips around the room to collect various photos or objects. As long as we were touching I was happy. Bella insisted on the connection, saying she was concerned that her shield might activate when she remembered something that stirred particularly strong emotions. _My _reasoning for the continued intimacy was not quite so altruistic...I never wanted to let her go.

"We can stop, if you like," I offered quietly, and she sought my eyes. "Talking about…_that _day…might be too painful for you to recall."

"No," she murmured, shaking her head. "I don't want to forget what happened."

I flinched, wishing it _were _possible to forget, then listened intently as she told me everything she could recall about her first day at Forks High, right up until when I'd followed my siblings into the cafeteria.

"Then I looked up and saw you walking across the room. You looked at me, and…" She stared at me, clearly puzzled, and I wondered what I'd given away.

I'd been careful, cautious, _flawless_ in my human charade for a very long time but that day had been as far from typical as anything I could possibly imagine, and I searched my memory for what I may have done to trigger her interest.

"You _tripped…_I think," she said, cocking her head to the side. "How does that work? I feel so out of control with my movements, and I've _always been _clumsy, but you guys are all so graceful. I don't get it."

It was my turn to drop my head, avoiding her curious gaze. I'd have to reassure her that her clumsy days would soon be behind her, but for now I was a little unsure how to explain the inexplicable.

"Hey?" She ducked down to catch my eye. "What is it? You're not…_embarrassed, _are you?"

No one could accuse this girl of lacking insight. The hair that was forever falling in my eyes, usually much to my annoyance, now provided a welcome barrier, and I smiled ruefully and peered at her through the strands.

"Maybe a little," I admitted, measuring off an inch between my thumb and forefinger.

"Why?" She smiled, confused.

"Because vampires don't 'trip.'"

"_So_…why did you?"

I took a deep breath. "Because of you," I admitted. "I saw you and…" My voice trailed away. I had no idea how to explain the life-altering changes that had occurred within me that day.

"Oh," Bella murmured. "Then you caught my scent."

"No!" I exclaimed, looking up at her in shock. "I'd have left immediately if I'd realized the risk—or been dragged out by the others," I admitted, running a hand raggedly through my hair. "I had no idea that you would turn out to be my singer. Your scent was lost amongst all the other humans in the room."

She frowned, looking confused. "Was it because you couldn't read my mind?"

I shook my head. "I didn't work that out until later." I paused and took a deep and unnecessary breath, steeling myself to tell Bella how she'd affected me. She deserved the truth, and I would always give it to her…well, when it wouldn't hurt her or put her in any danger, of course.

"It was just _you,_ Bella. I'd never seen a girl as beautiful as you before," I confessed.

Bella's jaw dropped, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she finally spoke. "But…but…I was only human."

"The most beautiful human I've ever seen, or vampire for that matter," I murmured, not quite meeting her eyes. I'd never told a girl anything like that before, and I was surprised at how vulnerable I felt.

"But…but…" Bella stuttered some more, then clamped her mouth shut. "God, I'm doing a fish impersonation," she muttered under her breath, then ducked her head again.

I hadn't meant to embarrass her, and considered how to proceed. Being honest, making myself even _more_ vulnerable, seemed the best way forward.

"I've never been affected that way before," I admitted, taking a moment to study our joined hands and take comfort in the warmth of our connection.

"_What_ way?" Bella whispered, and I peered up at her once more.

"Attracted to a girl."

"Attracted...as in _physically_ attracted?"

I nodded, and she frowned before chewing on her lower lip. I wanted to beg her to stop, while being utterly mesmerized by the sight. The attraction I felt for Bella was a new constant in my life, but seeing her tongue dart out of her mouth to lick her lips, or seeing her bite that same lip, or seeing her doing any of a thousand other innocent things took that attraction to a whole new, unbearable level. A part of my anatomy, one that I'd barely given a thought to up until a week ago, twitched in response, and I willed it to behave. Admitting to Bella that I found her incredibly attractive was one thing; having her see the very real evidence of my desire was something else altogether.

She continued nibbling on her pink, plump, moist lower lip, and I stifled a groan.

"What is it?" I whispered, rather hoarsely. She didn't seem to notice my rasping voice or the fact that I was practically panting but continued to look lost in thought.

"So…if you've never been attracted to a _girl_ before, were you attracted to guys?" she asked.

I sat back, stunned.

"No!" I retorted. _Damn Jessica Stanley and her conniving, gossipy tongue._ I must have missed her sharing that particular rumor with Bella. "I'm not gay, Bella. I'd just never met a girl that I was interested in before…well, before you."

She shook her head in disbelief. "But Rosalie said you guys don't even see human girls, other than as prey to avoid."

"I've never noticed one before, so I would normally agree with that assessment." I shrugged, incredibly relieved that my brothers could not hear this particular conversation.

"And you're not talking about my scent, the bloodlust that came later?"

"No," I said, feeling somewhat exasperated but making sure I hid it behind a reassuring smile. She was taking a lot of convincing. "I saw you and…" I shrugged, struggling to find the right words, an unfamiliar experience for me as I normally had the advantage of knowing what others were going to say, sometimes quite a while before they actually said it. I decided to go for brutal honesty, silently hoping I wasn't making a grave mistake.

"When I first saw you, I was…taken aback." _That _was putting it mildly, but I didn't want to shock Bella by being _too _honest. "I wasn't sure what I was feeling; in fact Jasper had to explain it to me," I admitted sheepishly. "I should have left immediately but…I couldn't. My brothers held me back when you left the cafeteria, so I watched you through the other students' minds. I was…_impatient_ for you to sit next to me in class. It was hardly sensible, but I wanted to meet you, to get to know you."

"Then you smelled my scent, and you couldn't leave for a different reason," Bella murmured, before frowning again. "Rosalie said you've never had a girlfriend?"

I nodded warily.

"I can understand why a human girlfriend wouldn't be an option, but what about another vampire?"

My eyebrows rose at Bella's words. She must know that a relationship with a traditional vampire was out of the question, so I had to assume my beloved sisters had been telling tales. "Rosalie told you about our Denali cousins, I take it."

"Kate, Irina and...Tanya." Bella's voice sounded flat, making me wonder exactly what the girls had told her. My family had always struggled with my lack of interest in the Denali sisters.

"Kate and Irina are nice enough…I just never saw them that way. They were older than me when they changed, not that it should make any difference." I shrugged, not quite meeting Bella's eyes. This wasn't an area of discussion I was comfortable with.

"What about Tanya?" She persisted. "Rosalie said she's interested in you."

I sighed and shook out the fists I'd formed with my hands. "Not in a million years," I muttered, slowly shaking my head. If I was being honest, there was no point holding anything back, _well...almost anything. _I looked up, giving Bella my most dazzling smile, shamelessly using every trick in my arsenal. "Bella, you're the only girl I have _ever _been attracted to, human or vampire, throughout my entire existence."

She stared at me unblinking, her mouth hanging open just a little. I felt rather smug and imagined Emmett and Jazz would have been quite impressed with my 'dazzling' ability…until she spoke.

"How _old_ are you?" she blurted.

"Seventeen," I answered, my voice low and rough. I glanced away for a second, Bella's proximity and her sweet scent prompting a fresh surge of desire to spiral through my body. I'd kept this new aspect to my physiology in check all day, but _now,_ when I needed it most, my control seemed to have deserted me.

Bella pulled a face. "How _long _have you been seventeen?" she demanded. "And don't say, 'a while.'"

I took a deep breath and told her the truth, wondering if this was the part where she would decide to run away screaming. "I've been seventeen for ninety-two years, which makes me a total of one hundred and nine."

"Wow..." she murmured, "and I thought _I_ was a late bloomer."

I felt my eyes go wide then I burst out laughing. I couldn't help myself. Bella had a way of taking me completely by surprise, never saying or doing what I expected.

She looked embarrassed, and I tried to stifle my laugh, worried she'd think my humor was at her expense. But to my relief she joined me, the joyful, bell-like sound of her laughter utterly contagious. I wished I'd heard her human laugh, as it would have been quite different…but still glorious, I was sure.

The thought brought me up cold, as I thought of all the years of Bella's life that I'd missed…all the things about her I _didn't_ know.

"So, what about you? Have you ever had a boyfriend?" I heard myself asking, even knowing I had no right to pry. Still, it seemed preferable to spying on her emotions via Jasper's talent.

Bella shook her head.

"What about your friend, Jacob Black?" I asked through gritted teeth. Bella stared at me for a moment, a puzzled expression on her face. Then she ducked her head, her mouth curving into a sweet, shy smile. Bella's perceptiveness could be a problem_._ It was obvious she'd realized that I was completely consumed with jealousy at the mere _thought_ of her spending time in the dog's company…let alone anything more.

"No, he's my best friend. More like a brother than anything else," she explained.

"That's...good," I nodded, doing my best not to make my relief at her words _too_ obvious.

"I'm going to miss Jake…a lot," she added after a moment, her tone wistful. "Do you think I could tell him about what's happened to me one day, if he promised to keep it a secret? It's not like he doesn't know about vampires."

I shook my head, suppressing the smile that wanted to burst free. My relief that there was a legitimate reason to keep Bella away from the dogs...permanently, was not something I was proud of. "There are no secrets in a wolf pack. Jake's thoughts would give him—and _us_—away, as the pack can read each other's minds when they're in their wolf form."

"Oh…" Bella shrugged and glanced away, blinking rapidly. "It was just a thought."

She looked so sad that my relief faltered, faded, and turned rightly to guilt. How _dare_ I forget that the inexplicable joy I felt at having Bella in my life came at the expense of _her_ happiness—_her_ life—the future she should have had…_would _have had, if I didn't exist.

_~OB~_

Blood...

BPOV

Edward tensed and looked toward the door.

"How's your thirst, Bella?" he asked, sounding concerned.

I grimaced, my hand going automatically to my neck. I shrugged off the sadness I was feeling at the thought of never seeing Jake again and allowed myself to acknowledge the itching, stinging discomfort at the back of my throat. The pain had been growing worse for a while, the burn flaring hotter and hotter as the day wore on. I'd been doing my best to ignore it, but I was fighting a losing battle.

"I know I have to, er…_feed_, but this is like my bedroom…" I shuddered, imagining blood spattered on the new purple bedspread and across my family photos.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I should have explained sooner. You don't have to do that again. The others have set up a safe perimeter and we can go outside, as long as you stay close to the house."

"But what would I, er…drink?" I couldn't imagine many wild animals would stray into this particular back yard.

"Emmett's corralled some deer near the house for you. You won't have to go far."

I sighed at Edward's words. Just _talking_ about feeding caused the burn in my throat to flame with agonizing heat. I still found it hard to believe that the only way to find relief from the burning pain was by drinking blood. They made it sound impossible, but surely real food couldn't be that difficult to eat? _And what about coffee?_ After going without for almost a week, I was surprised I wasn't clawing the door down for a caffeine fix. It didn't seem to be a problem, though I couldn't _stop_ remembering the taste of the deer's blood...and my body definitely wanted more.

A shudder ran through me at the thought. What a strange, strange reality I'd woken up to. For as far back as I could remember I'd been terribly afraid of the sight of blood. I'd even _fainted, _more than once, when faced with just a few drops, whether it was mine or someone else's. Now here I was _salivating_ at the thought of drinking the warm, soothing liquid, my nostrils flaring at the memory of the sweet smell. And as for my pacifist tendencies, becoming a vampire seemed to have suppressed them completely.

Hearing a sound from the other side of the locked door, all thoughts but those regarding self-preservation were driven from my mind. Springing backwards, I narrowly missed the computer desk and landed up near the ceiling, adding a new crack to the recently repaired wall.

I'd heard of being jumpy, but this was ridiculous.

"It's all right, Bella. Jasper and Alice have come to let us out. They can feel your thirst." I was pretty sure Edward was trying for a soothing tone, but his voice sounded…odd.

_Damn it! _My shield had activated and was zapping him, _painfully_ by the look of things. He was pressed up against the door, but it clearly wasn't far enough to get out of range of my freaky, room-sized electrified bubble.

I nodded and concentrated on calming down enough to deactivate my unwelcome 'gift.' Fortunately, it didn't take long. While I was glad I was able to stop torturing Edward, it was difficult to feel anything other than bewilderment at the fact that I was apparently regulating a force field that I was also generating but could barely see or feel.

The door opened, and I uttered an embarrassing and completely involuntary hiss. The shield reactivated, but this time I was able to keep it close around me…and roughly under control.

_Thank God for small mercies, _I thought, as one of my grandmother's favorite sayings came to mind. It seemed quite appropriate, except for the fact that I was feeling rather forsaken...where God was concerned.

"Hi, Bella," Alice said, entering the room with a cheery smile on her face as if I wasn't perched halfway up a wall, eyeing them both with intense suspicion and hissing like a snake. "Ready for a little outing?"

Jasper sent a wave of calm my way, and I gladly let it wash over me.

Edward approached me cautiously, his smile reassuring but wary as he reached out for me to take his hand. I hesitated for a second, willing the shield away, only reaching to grasp his fingers when I was sure it was safe. From there, it was an easy step back down to the ground.

"All set?" he asked, and I nodded jerkily.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"Don't worry. I'm fine," He smiled, but I didn't find it quite so easy to dismiss the fact that I'd hurt him…again.

"Promise you won't let me hurt anyone else? Not with my shield but…you know." I shrugged, not wanting to put my fears into words. That would make it _too _real.

"We promise," Jasper answered with confidence. "We've had gates installed at the road to discourage any more visitors, and the others are standing guard around the property. They'll smell any humans before they come too close, though Edward would hear their thoughts and warn us long before that could happen. There's no need to worry."

I nodded again, the burn in my throat reaching an unbearable level. I wanted to claw at it with my fingers and knew that begging for relief was just a matter of time.

"Come," Jasper gestured toward the door, and this time I didn't hesitate. In less than a second we ascended the stairs, passed through the house, and reached the French doors that led to the rear patio. I could hear a thrumming sound, one that I now recognized as an animal's heartbeat, coming from somewhere outside the house. Venom burned like sweet acid in my throat, and I lunged for the door.

"Just a second, sweetie," Alice called, and I spun to face her.

Before I realized her intention, she removed my new checkered shirt, briefly revealing the flimsy camisole I wore over my bra. As I pushed my arms through the loose black shirt she pulled over my head, I glanced toward Edward, wondering what he thought of my revealing so much skin. He was staring, and I felt my body responding to his interest, but then Alice captured my attention when she tied my hair back into a ponytail and tucked a packet of what looked like moist towelettes into the back pocket of my jeans.

"Alice?" Edward's eyebrows rose as he queried her actions, swallowing hard.

"Bella won't be happy if she messes up her new clothes," Alice informed us both. "This way, she can wipe the blood off her hands as soon as she's finished feeding, which should make the experience a little less…unsettling."

I grimaced, feeling like a baby. But then, that's what they all kept calling me—a newborn. I couldn't even feed without making a mess.

Swallowing hard, I edged toward the door and the tantalizing pull of the heart I could hear beating close by.

_What __would it be like to drink from a live animal, while the heart is still beating?_ I wondered, the thought shocking but intriguing. Not only wasn't I afraid of blood anymore, I was _eager_ to drink it, craving the reprieve it would give from this burning, demanding, insatiable thirst.

"It's all right, Bella; I'll be with you," Edward offered, reaching to pat my arm with a gentle caress.

"Not too close," Jasper warned. "Once her hunting instincts take over, she'll find it hard to tell the difference between friend and foe."

I stared at him blankly, wondering what was I supposed to say to something like that.

"Let's just do this," I muttered, and pulled open the French door, ripping it right off its hinges. I stared at the door I was holding up with one hand in disbelief. _It weighed nothing!_

Then I heard a guffaw of laughter from outside, and I looked up to see Emmett waving at me from amongst the trees beyond the house_. _

_How could I see him so clearly and hear him from so far away?_

He was hundreds of yards from the house, standing at the edge of the forest, yet I could make out the huge grin on his face, the checks on his shirt, even the rip above the knee of his jeans.

Jasper took the door from my hand as I looked around in awe. It was dusk, with very little light reaching the shadowed field behind the house, yet I could see…_everything._ Every blade of grass, leaf, flower, even _insect_ was clearly visible. The colors, including those I had no name for, were as vivid as if it were broad daylight.

I gasped and looked beyond the manicured field to the forest beyond. One by one, I spotted the rest of Edward's family keeping watch in the distance. Some were more difficult to see, as they were obscured by trees and bushes, and I realized it was the tiny movements and sounds they made that gave them away.

_I could hear them breathing!_

"It's all right, you'll get used to it," Edward murmured.

I swallowed against the burn in my throat and looked to him for reassurance.

"You'll stay close?" I asked, hating the needy tone in my voice, but feeling so far outside my comfort zone I wasn't above asking for help.

He nodded, and then signaled to Emmett who released the deer he had tied to a tree just inside the forest. The huge vampire with the contagious grin herded the terrified animal into the clearing and then backed up to continue his guardian role. Once I saw the deer run into the field, all my confusion and fear faded into insignificance. Its heartbeat grew faster as it ran in terror from the predator that had held it captive, and I snarled at Edward and the others, warning them to stay back.

The deer—the _blood—_was mine!

With a single leap I spanned the patio, landing beyond the garden beds, before pushing off to literally soar through the air the fifty yards to my target, timing it to land exactly where I needed to be. My sporting ability had always been nonexistent, along with my hand-eye coordination, but I didn't stop to question this new ability or the unbelievable sensation of moving so fast and far it felt like I was flying. I was completely and solely absorbed in hunting down the panicked creature running across the field…my prey.

Landing beside the deer, I captured it easily with one hand while my teeth bit deep, slicing through its warm fur and fragile skin, then sinking through the fibrous flesh and into the artery hidden beneath. Hot blood spurted into my mouth and down the front of my shirt while the animal squealed in terror. For a fleeting moment, I considered draining it while it was still alive, reveling in the feel of the blood being literally _pumped_ into my mouth by the still-beating heart. But the thought shocked me so much I immediately put the poor thing out of its misery with a quick flick of my wrist, breaking its neck with ridiculous ease.

The deer fell limp, and I lowered it to the grass, my senses tuned to defend from attack. While I was totally aware of everything that was happening around me, the location of each member of Edward's family, the slightest changes in air pressure and temperature, every sound, and every movement...at the same time, I was completely focused on the soothing, satisfying blood that coursed down my throat. I moaned with relief as the tangy, sweet, salty liquid soothed the burn in my throat, eased the cramping in my belly, and released a burst of euphoria unlike anything I'd ever experienced before.

I'd never done drugs, or gotten drunk for that matter. With a mother like Renee, it had always seemed sensible to remain sober, and going wild while spending my summers with Charlie had hardly been an option...not that I'd been particularly tempted.

But this…_this_ was amazing.

I'd felt a fraction of this satisfaction when they'd brought the deer to me in the hidden room, but I'd been so overwhelmed I'd barely been able to take it all in. This time was different. This was euphoria—bliss—on a level and intensity beyond my imagination or comprehension. I'd never felt so incredibly, ecstatically high in my life!

I savored every last drop, but all too soon the deer was drained dry, leaving me feeling...'sloshy,' too full to drink anymore. But still I thought about running, escaping and finding other, _better_ prey.

Hadn't Edward said the more predatory the animal, the better the taste? Deer weren't even carnivores, and yet drinking this one's blood had left me craving more. What would the blood of a predator taste like?

What would _human_ blood taste like?

The shocking thought sobered me more quickly than if I'd been doused in ice water. Pushing the deer away, I looked down at my blood-soaked hands and shirt. With trembling fingers, I wrenched the packet of wipes from my pocket, ripping it in half in the process. I grabbed at the fragments of damp cloth and scrubbed viciously at the blood staining my skin and beneath my nails. Then I tore the bloodied black shirt from my body, the material disintegrating like tissue paper in my hands and leaving me more exposed than I was normally comfortable with. But I was just relieved the blood hadn't soaked through to the camisole or my bra.

I felt sickened by what I'd done, yet I couldn't deny the incredible buzz that still sang in my veins...or whatever vampire equivalent I now possessed.

"Bella, are you okay?" Edward called softly from a short distance away.

I spun to face him, my breath coming hard and fast even though I knew I didn't actually need to breathe. It didn't matter. I was shaking and upset, my body _used_ to the comfort and necessity of increased oxygen when faced with stress or danger.

Just seeing Edward helped me to calm down…but then he stepped closer.

_Oh, no!_

I could feel it again, that same instinctual hunger that I didn't have the strength to fight.

_W__hy is this happening?_ I thought, confused and terrified about what I might do. I didn't want to hurt or punish him anymore, and I couldn't feed from him_…could I?_

Then I realized I was feeling a different sort of hunger, one I didn't fully understand. I didn't want blood. I didn't want to hurt or kill or feed. I ached with an altogether different longing, but one that was equally impossible to deny.

Edward walked slowly toward me, his hands held out in front of him to show he meant me no harm. He stopped about ten feet away and crouched down, and I knew he was trying to make me feel safe, unchallenged…but that wasn't the issue.

"Bella, what is it?" he asked, his voice soft and pleading. "Tell me what you need."

I swallowed hard, savoring the blood and venom as they trickled down my throat. Then I inhaled, drawing Edward's intoxicating scent deep into my lungs...and my mind cleared.

I knew exactly what I needed, and nothing and nobody was going to stop me from taking it.

_~OB~_

_**Tell me this chapter doesn't deserve a review! Seriously, I love to hear your thoughts, and I'm dying to know if you're as eager as I am to find out what happens next… ;)**_

_**Until next weekend,  
>xxx TLS<strong>_


	13. Lust

_**Thanks to Stephenie Meyers for sharing the Twiverse with her grateful fans.**_

_**Thank you to my wonderful readers and reviewers for all your support and encouragment. **_

_**To my amazement, Stella Luna Sky - her stories get 1000s of reviews and are amazing - is reading OB and really enjoying it. (Picture me boggled!) I've posted the lovely rec/review she gave my story on my profile page (with her permission) if you'd like to have a read.**_

_**Extra special thanks to my awesome betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, and to my lovely pre-reader, Content1.**_

_**Tweaks to the Twiverse:  
>Skip it if you're not into reading excessively detailed back stories and explanations!<strong>_

_**I forgot to mention a fairly major 'tweak' in the last chapter. I'm a little 'AR', in case you haven't picked up on that fact, and I always found the amount of blood SMs vamps consumed didn't make sense. So…I did some research and discovered that the average human body contains about 5 liters of blood. A girl Bella's size would be lucky to hold 4 liters, and even if you include a couple of liters for stomach and small intestine capacity, I just don't see her consuming two or three deers' worth of blood in one sitting! I know SM said they feel a little 'slushy' after draining several animals' worth of blood – but laws of physics, people! You can't pour fifteen or twenty liters of blood into a vessel that only holds six or seven! Even if the vampires had no bones, organs, or muscle tissue, (which we know they still do) it just wouldn't fit. So don't expect to see Bella finishing off a buck, a couple of deer and a mountain lion in Once Bitten.**_

_**My other major 'tweak' from last chapter has to do with Bella's reaction to drinking blood. **_

_**The taste of animal blood is supposed to be far inferior to human blood, but I think it sounds tough enough being a vampire with having to give up food, drink, sleep, dreaming, sunshine – what a depressing list – to make the blood they have to drink taste awful as well! Consequently, I wanted to make the drinking of animal blood quite an experience, while allowing for the fact that 'vegetarian' vamps are making a big sacrifice in giving up the ultimate pleasure of consuming human blood. Make any sense?**_

_**Okay...enough tweaking!**_

_**Posted: Friday July 29th, 2011  
>Words: 3839<strong>_

Chapter 13

Lust

EPOV

_Edward! _Alice warned me with a mental shout, just as Bella sprang.

I braced myself, wincing as I considered how much her attack was going to hurt. I wasn't sure what had set her off this time, but I could hardly blame her for being furious with me. I would _never_ blame her. What I'd done was unforgivable. The fact that she'd allowed me to spend the day with her, to enjoy even a small reprieve from her completely warranted hatred and fury, was so much more than I deserved.

She hit me with stunning force, and I fell backward to the ground, the air rushing from my lungs.

"_Defend yourself!"_ Jasper shouted, but I would never raise a hand to Bella. She could tear my head from my shoulders, erase my memory, and it would be _nothing_ compared to the wrong I'd done her.

"Don't hurt her!" I pleaded as Jasper raced to my rescue, the rest of the family close behind. They were almost upon us when Alice yelled for them to stop, the fractured pictures I saw in her mind making little sense.

Jasper gasped, his thoughts as confusing as Alice's vision. He skidded to a halt before backing away, directing the others to follow his lead. One by one, my family melted into the forest, leaving me alone with Bella.

I was glad they weren't going to intervene, afraid they may have accidentally harmed her while trying to save me, but it was a shock to realize they were abandoning me to Bella's newborn rage. Their actions didn't make sense as their thoughts toward me weren't angry or vindictive, even Rosalie only seemed mildly indignant, and I failed to understand how they could think this experience would be to my benefit. I had little time to ponder their reasoning as Bella continued her attack.

Tensing in anticipation of the excruciating pain of dismemberment, I continued to catch glimpses of Alice's fragmented vision as it replayed in her mind.

_Bella tearing my clothes from my body…Bella wrapped around me, her hands in my hair and her mouth at my neck…Bella crawling up my body as she gained a better angle to…to…_

Comprehension brought with it complete and utter astonishment as I finally understood Bella's intent. Her hands _were_ fisted in my hair, pulling me close as she pressed her lips against mine. But she wasn't trying to hurt me…she was kissing me!

I tensed for the briefest moment and she drew back, a look of such hurt in her eyes I knew I would do anything to erase it. Sitting up, I wrapped my arms around her as my mouth crashed down on hers, our bodies shuddering at the impact. Her legs fell to either side of my hips and she wrapped them around me, hooking her feet together behind my back and pulling our bodies tightly together. The position was…mind-blowing, bringing her damp heat hard against my instant arousal. We both gasped, and I took the opportunity to invade the incredible warmth of her mouth with my tongue. Her sweet taste combined with the blood still on her lips, and my head spun. Overwhelming possessiveness and all-consuming desire surged within me, and a feral growl rumbled deep within my chest.

Bella answered my growl with a moan...the sweetest sound I'd ever heard. Then she was kissing me back with unrestrained passion, our tongues dancing together while our lips moved and molded into hot, hungry kisses.

"Oh, Bella," I groaned against her mouth as my hands mapped the curves and contours of her back. I reverentially caressed the bare skin of her neck and shoulders, as with the shirt Alice had given her ripped and discarded, she was only covered by thin-strapped camisole I'd glimpsed earlier. Her beautiful hair had come loose and cascaded around us like a silken shawl.

She held me tight—almost too tight—but I wasn't complaining. Her body pressed intimately against me, creating sensations I'd never experienced before...sensations so intense I wondered how I would survive their sweet torture, while her hands stroked and explored _my_ bare skin. Alice's vision was right…Bella had shredded my shirt while we were kissing!

I could barely suppress a grin. _My girl is strong,_ I thought and then tensed.

This was wrong. I was taking advantage of her newborn lack of control, the bloodlust that was driving her passion. I shouldn't be doing this, but I didn't know how to withdraw without hurting her feelings.

_Don't stop yet_, Alice warned, her visions leaping through various possibilities and outcomes. _But don't go too far. She'll be really upset if you go all the way out here in the open with the family watching._

I almost choked. Desire surged through me like a tidal wave as I wondered how the hell I was supposed to control it with the graphic images from Alice's vision in my mind. My answer came when her next vision revealed the devastation that would appear on Bella's face if I didn't control my passion. I kept kissing the beautiful girl wrapped sensuously around me but gently, soothingly, until her movements slowed. She hesitated and then pulled back, her expression dazed and wrenchingly insecure.

"Edward?" she whispered, her swollen lips trembling with uncertainty.

My resolve crumbled, and I reached to kiss her again and again, unable to bear the thought of disappointing her in any way. All too soon, I lost myself in the feel of her soft, warm lips moving so eagerly against my own as our bodies continued to writhe against each other.

_You're supposed to be helping her calm down, not fueling the fire_, Jasper admonished dryly, and I flipped him off behind Bella's back. _Who needed enemies when you had a family like mine?_ But as much as I hated to admit it...he was right.

"Bella, sweetheart, we need to stop," I gasped, my voice hoarse with passion. She continued to run her hands across my back and shoulders, her touch leaving a trail of sensation tingling and warming my skin in a way I'd never expected to feel. I'd given up hope decades earlier that I would ever experience the passion my family members all took for granted. And though I'd seen and heard their responses too many times to count, the reality was far above and beyond…_anything_.

Bella ran her fingers through my hair, tugging on the strands with almost frantic need. I could feel the soft, full mounds of her breasts crushed against my chest, the thin material of her lacy top the only thing coming between us.

I groaned.

Her skin, the softness and perfection of her body, her sweet, aroused scent, all combined to overwhelm my senses. I didn't want to stop—wasn't actually sure that I could—but knew I must, so with sheer determination I broke away from her luscious lips. She whimpered, and I quickly trailed my mouth along the line of perfection that was her jaw, the tender skin of her neck, and the curve of her shoulder. As I left hot, wet kisses in my wake, her head dropped back, a look of ecstasy on her face as a soft moan escaped her lips.

I wanted to shout in triumph..._but this wasn't helping_.

"Sweetheart, we need to stop," I repeated. She looked up at me, her expression dazed, beautiful…erotic. Her pupils had dilated until there was just the slightest ring of red around the edge of her irises, her lips pink and swollen, and her cheeks flushed.

I slowly sobered, knowing the color was more a result of the blood she'd just consumed than the passion we'd shared. I was taking advantage of her inexperience and newborn volatility, and it was inexcusable…and utterly divine. Continuing to caress her soft, supple body with soothing strokes,I tried to find the strength to pull back.

Bella moaned in protest, and I stifled a groan.

"It's all right, baby, but we need to stop," I rasped, my voice barely recognizable.

"Why?" she whispered, leaning in to echo my earlier movements and trailing tender kisses across my bare flesh.

My head swam as desire flared even more hotly within me, an intense, uncontrollable flame that burned away all reason. Stopping was no longer an option; at least it wouldn't have been if it weren't for the irritating and insistent voices of my 'family conscience.'

I sighed, the sound strangling in my throat as Bella's tongue flicked along the tender skin below my ear.

_Edward! _Jasper warned. _She's losing control and so are you. Now is not the time or place. We've taken enough of a risk letting her stay outside this long._

Moaning long and low, I forced myself to hold Bella at arm's length.

"We have to stop because we're out in the open," I whispered huskily.

She stared at me, unblinking, and I felt my resolve wavering.

_Edward, she's vulnerable. You need to be strong_, Carlisle advised.

Closing my eyes for a second, I steeled myself to do the right thing. I would not continue to take advantage of her, no matter how tempted.

"It's not safe, sweetheart…and we've got an audience." I smiled ruefully to ease the sting of my words.

Bella frowned, her eyes darting to the edges of the clearing from where my family slowly approached. Her muscles tensed, the look of passion on her lovely face transforming to one of horror.

"It's all right, they understand," I consoled, but my words had little effect. Wrenching herself out of my embrace, she leapt backwards, crouching in a defensive stance. I signaled the others to halt, and for a long moment Bella remained frozen in place. But then she stood and ran her hands roughly through her hair, looking around with a bewildered expression.

"What just happened?" she demanded.

My heart sank. Closing my eyes, I let my head fall. I'd known it was just the bloodlust and her newborn lack of self control, not true passion she was feeling, but I'd let myself get carried away…let myself hope. Jasper and Alice would have to explain what had happened. I couldn't do it. The thought of seeing anger or disgust in her eyes after what we'd just shared was more than I could bear.

Someone touched my shoulder and I flinched, so distracted I hadn't even heard the thoughts of the person approaching. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to face them.

"Hey, it's okay." My comforter spoke and it was..._Bella._ She was standing before me, a worried expression on her face and her hand hovering near my shoulder.

It was unbelievable, but_ she_ was trying to comfort _me_.

I wanted to haul her back into my arms, bury my face in her strawberry-scented hair, and never let her go.

"Sorry about your shirt," she murmured, reaching tentatively to stroke my upper arm with her fingers. I leaned into her touch, unable to resist, though I determinedly suppressed the passion that hovered just beneath the surface.

"Sorry for taking advantage," I offered, as misery and shame threatened to overwhelm me. As usual, my sin was far worse than any minor offense Bella may have committed.

She stilled, her lovely brow creasing into a frown. "What do you mean? I'm the one who attacked you…again." She grimaced and ducked her head.

"No! No you didn't...and I didn't mind," I contradicted.

Bella peered up at me from behind the curtain of her hair and smiled a wholly feminine smile. I lost track of my train of thought, but then she frowned again and I groaned aloud. Why had I ever complained about my mindreading ability? Not knowing what she was thinking was unbearable_._

"I lost control again," she whispered sadly, looking away.

"It wasn't your fault," I assured her earnestly. I couldn't bear it if she took any of the blame for what had occurred. _It was all mine!_ "You're a newborn. We should have warned you, but we were all so focused on keeping you safe from the temptation of human blood that we forgot about the other effects of bloodlust. It's a normal response, but it doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to…" My words trailed away as I took in the look of dismay that crossed Bella's delicate features. She stepped back, _away_ from me, and then wrapped her arms around her waist.

_Idiot,_ Jasper thought at me, the sentiment seconded by Emmett, though in far more colorful language.

_She needs reassuring,_ _Edward,_ Esme added, and I fought the urge to throw my hands in the air. What did they think I was trying to do?

"What I'm trying to say is it's _customary_ to lose control after feeding, especially when you're a newborn. Our emotions are intensified when we drink blood."

Bella ran her hands through her hair, looking jerkily around.

"So the…the rush is normal?" she stammered, her darting gaze returning to my face, but not quite meeting my eyes.

"Yes, and so is the aftereffect. Do you remember what happened after you fed yesterday?"

"You mean when I attacked you and ripped your arm off?" She eyed me pointedly.

I grimaced...Ask a stupid question.

Putting aside my chagrin, I continued. "I'm sure you've been angry before, _really_ angry, but I doubt you ever attacked anyone physically."

"Of course not," she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Not that I didn't deserve it, but the reason you attacked me yesterday is because you were caught up in the predatory side of your new vampire nature, which is at its peak when we hunt and feed."

"But I wasn't angry this time." Bella frowned. "I…I _enjoyed_ spending the day with you." She looked up at me, and I despised myself for the sadness I saw in her eyes. "So you're saying it wasn't real? How I _felt_? It was just vampire instincts?"

I hesitated, afraid of saying the wrong thing. My family assaulted me from every side with suggestions, but I did my best to block them out, their advice only adding to my confusion.

"I'm saying it could be real…if you want it to…but it doesn't have to be."

_~OB~_

BPOV

I stared at Edward and hugged myself tightly around the middle while my emotions swung wildly between bewildered, horrified, and utterly embarrassed. I couldn't believe what I'd done...and while his family were watching! For the second time in two days, I'd attacked their son and brother, but this time _I'd sexually assaulted him!_ I'd torn his shirt to pieces and raked his back and shoulders with my nails—repeatedly—the marks still visible on his otherwise perfect skin.

I stepped backward and Edward followed.

"Please, Bella," he implored, but I didn't know what he wanted from me. I could barely think straight for the scent of him in the air and on my skin, and I could still _taste_ him, the memory of his touch imprinted on my nerve endings. I'd never experienced anything like the rush I'd gotten from drinking the deer's blood, but it was nothing—_nothing_—compared to the feel of Edward's arms around me afterward, let alone the touch and taste of his mouth on mine. Swaying toward him, the craving I felt to be held in his muscular arms seemed outside of my control.

Alice and Jasper approached, the reminder that they'd been there all along as sobering as a cold shower. The desire I felt for Edward still simmered barely beneath the surface but humiliation overrode it.

_Please God, let the ground open up and swallow me, _I prayed, but then I wondered if God even _heard _vampire's prayers.

Alice flitted to my side and wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

"Don't be embarrassed, sweetie," she murmured close to my ear. "It happens to all of us when we hunt with our mate, which makes it lots of fun."

"Alice!" Edward barked. "You're pressuring her. It didn't mean anything. She's a newborn!"

I flinched and ducked my head. Edward's rejection stung worse than the burning I'd felt in my throat before drinking from the deer. He'd _said _he was attracted to me and that he thought I was beautiful, but that didn't mean he wanted to be in a relationship with me…obviously. Not that attacking the guy in front of his entire family exactly constituted a date.

I hugged myself around my middle again, rocking back and forth in a desperate desire to find comfort.

_What was I thinking?_ I'd been turned into a vampire, had just killed my _second_ deer—with my teeth!— so that I could drink its blood. I was essentially dead to my family, and I was worrying about whether or not Edward wanted to be my boyfriend?

Alice patted my arm while Jasper leaned close to Edward in a silent, scowling exchange. After a moment, Edward ran his hands through his hair then nodded and turned toward me.

"Bella?" he queried hesitantly and reached out to me with his hand.

I stared at the hand that I'd held almost constantly since finding myself being painfully and endlessly burned alive. The craving to feel his skin against mine as our fingers entwined was overwhelming, but I was determined to regain some self-respect and resist the lure of his touch. I lasted four excruciating, interminable seconds, then groaned, defeated, and placed my hand in his, pathetically grateful for the gentle squeeze of his fingers.

Alice disppeared toward the house, returning almost immediately with my checked shirt and a black T-shirt for Edward. He released my hand with obvious reluctance so we could dress, but I knew not to read anything into his actions. His '_it didn't mean anything'_ still echoed in my ears. He'd probably only returned my kisses out of pity, or maybe the bloodlust was contagious?

"Yeah, I know, Jazz. I'll handle it," Edward addressed his silent brother.

I frowned. Jasper must be reading my emotions and then reporting them to Edward with his thoughts. _That _could get seriously annoying.

Alice smiled and pulled me into a quick hug. "Everything will be fine. It's not what you think," she offered cryptically.

I didn't know what to think. Embarrassed and confused, I just desperately wanted to go home. I missed my family and doing normal stuff, like sharing a cup of coffee or a meal without it turning into a bloodbath. I couldn't even use a toilet break as an excuse to get away for a few minutes solitude. What was with that? What sort of 'transformation' had to take place for a person to no longer need to use the bathroom?

I stifled a hysterical laugh. Maybe I really _did_ die in the school fire and this was some weird version of purgatory?

"We should head back to the house." Edward interrupted my wildly shifting thoughts and captured my hand again. Pulling me gently toward him, he put a little distance between us and Alice and Jasper. And I tried not to stare at the way the soft material of his black shirt hugged his lean, muscled torso…but failed.

I wished I knew how any one person could be so irresistibly beautiful. Surely the fact that he was the cause of my misery should discount any attraction..._shouldn't it?_

He leaned down, mesmerizing me with his gaze, and I swayed toward him.

_Apparently not._

"You don't have to babysit me; I'll be fine," I muttered, dropping my gaze.

Edward lifted my chin with his finger. "It's not like that. I _want_ to be with you," he murmured.

"Don't lie to me," I snapped. "I know you're only humoring me because you feel guilty."

"Is that what you think?" His tone was incredulous.

I glared at him, tugging on his hand, but he held firm. It was still difficult to comprehend that I could easily pull away from him…if I really wanted to.

"Do you honestly believe I kissed you out of guilt?" he continued in a gentle tone.

I shrugged. "No, that was the bloodlust, or vampire instincts, or whatever. I get it. You don't have to rub it in."

"Bella_, I_ wasn't affected by bloodlust or anything other than my attraction to you. I know how I feel. It's _your_ feelings I'm unsure of. I only stopped because I didn't want to take advantage of you." Edward's voice was low, husky, and incredibly sexy, and it took me a moment to make sense of his words.

WhenI did, I gaped at him, stunned. _Edward had feelings for me?_ A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, then disappeared when I considered a far more likely reason for his bringing our very public 'hookup' to an end.

"And because your family was watching us," I mumbled.

"Believe me," he murmured, stepping so close that his chest brushed against my breasts, causing a rush of tingling sensation to race along my nerves and pool, with liquid heat, low in my body. "My family was the last thing on my mind, though I'm sorry if I embarrassed you."

"I think I managed to do that perfectly well all by myself," I muttered, my acerbic tone disguised somewhat by the hoarseness of my voice.

_This boy was dangerous on so many levels._

"You're doing incredibly well, Bella. Jasper is amazed at your control and he's had a _lot _of experience with newborns."

"But your family must think I'm horrible," I whispered, wishing again that I could just disappear.

"Not at all, little sis," Emmett called as he jogged toward us. "It's about time Edward stopped thinking with his brain and started thinking with his…"

"Emmett," Edward growled, whirling to face him.

I ducked my head behind Edward's shoulder to hide the blush that never came.

"I was going to say 'heart,'" Emmett finished with a smirk, and Edward punched him in the arm, looking as embarrassed as I felt.

Esme, Carlisle, and Rose approached but thankfully remained silent. I kept my head down, relieved when Edward guided us toward the house, albeit at a considerably slower pace than the one I'd used when I left it. I matched my steps to his as best I could, though it felt like we were moving in slow motion.

"It takes some practice to move at human speed, but we do it whenever we're near the house so as to stay in the habit," he explained, noticing the trouble I was having keeping pace.

"Yeah, well, I guess moving at vampire speed would give you away pretty quickly. People would notice," I muttered, relieved at having something relatively harmless to talk about, something other than my mortifying loss of control.

"You'd think so." Jasper smiled wryly. "But humans tend to see what they expect to see. It wasn't difficult to convince the children in the cafeteria that they'd only _imagined_ seeing Edward run toward you at vampire speed the other day."

"A bit more difficult to hide what he did later," Rose added dryly.

I shuddered, and Edward hunched his shoulders. It seemed we both had reasons to feel embarrassed about lack of self-control.

_~OB~_

**So…what did you think of my first ever lemon? Actually, my betas pointed out it is more of a 'lime' but an appropriate starting place for our confused, nervous little virgins, don't you agree?**

**I'd **_**say **_**that reviews are better than being wrapped in Edward's arms, even with his whole family watching on, but we **_**all**_** know that's a lie! **

**Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter. :-)**

**xxx TLS**


	14. Competition

_**Stephenie Meyer created Twilight. No copyright infringement intended – just lots of fun!**_

_**Thanks for the wonderful reviews, and welcome to all the new readers who signed up for alerts this week.**_

_**A special thanks to gabby871 for an 'inspired' description of Tanya in one of her reviews, which I have plagiarized shamelessly. :)**_

_**There's one fairly significant 'tweak to the Twiverse' this chapter. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think.**_

_**Posted: Sunday, August 7th 2011  
>Words: 4170<strong>_

Chapter 14

Competition

BPOV

"Bella, you'll want to shower and change your clothes," Alice informed me once we were inside the house.

I blinked at her. She was a bossy little thing and, considering her track-record, a little overconfident with her predictions. She _had _missed the whole 'Edward going psycho in the middle of school' episode, but she'd been right about my appreciating the overshirt and wipes, which was something...I supposed.

I shrugged. "Sure…I guess." Almost twenty-four hours had passed since I'd last showered and changed, but without needing sleep, I was finding it difficult to keep track of time. I'd managed to avoid ruining my clothes when I'd fed this time, other than the black shirt which I'd left in tatters on the lawn. I wasn't too worried about it, as I gathered that was its purpose. Edward's shirt was another matter.

Looking out into the night, I saw that the yard had been cleared of the remnants of both the shirts and the deer's body, which made sense. It didn't take a genius IQ, _or a superior, supernatural brain_, to know it wasn't a great idea to leave evidence of the Cullens' alternate lifestyle just lying around for anyone to see.

Alice tugged me insistently toward the stairs, but I resisted, jerking her to a halt. It wasn't that I didn't want to go with her—after rolling around in the grass, first with a deer, and then with Edward, I knew I could probably do with a shower—but to accomplish that task I'd have to let go of Edward's hand.

I started to tremble, my insides turning to jelly.

Even counting the time I'd been semi-conscious, we'd spent less than a week together, and yet I was panicking at the thought of a few moments separation.

_When had I become so pathetic?_ Oh right, probably around the time I woke up to my new life as a _freakin' vampire!_

No doubt informed of my imminent anxiety attack by Jasper, who'd been watching us quietly from just inside the door, Edward edged closer and began rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand. I calmed instantly, his touch sending a sweet, tingling sensation racing up my arm.

"Alice will take good care of you," he assured me with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, okay," I murmured. His smile widened, and I swayed inexorably toward him.

"I'll meet you back here in ten minutes…no make that five," he promised.

Even that seemed too long, and I reconsidered my need of a shower. _Maybe I could get by with just using some more wipes?_

"Edward," Alice rebuked. "The Denalis will be here in fifty-two minutes, and I'm sure Bella would like some time to prepare."

_The Denalis?_ _Here? _

I gasped and snatched my hand from Edward's, Alice's words breaking the spell that had held me captive to his gaze.

"Please, don't worry. They're coming to help us; you don't have to be afraid."

I wasn't sure if Edward had recognized my fear from my body language or if Jasper had tattled on me. Either way, he was _way _off the mark as to the cause of my anxiety…fortunately.

I glanced to Jasper who returned my worried look with a wink, making me wonder if he was protecting my secret. I still wasn't all that sure how their gifts worked, but it was good to know he didn't have to tell Edward _everything_ I felt. Overwhelming jealousy wasn't something I was used to feeling, or particularly proud of, but the thought of three beautiful, _single_ female vampires vying for Edward's attention was more than I could handle.

Without a word I turned to leave with Alice. Every second counted, though for what, I wasn't exactly sure.

"Meet you back here when you're ready?" Edward called after me, his voice sounding uncertain. I nodded, glancing over my shoulder, then raced up the stairs and along the hallway, my feet barely connecting with the polished timber. Alice followed me into the oversized bathroom and closed the door behind us.

"So…Bella." She grinned. "We have a couple of choices to make. You can go all out and knock everyone's socks off with a truly daring ensemble, _or_ you can just be yourself and wear something more in keeping with your usual style, knowing that Edward will be entirely smitten either way."

"You think so?" I whispered, afraid he might hear us. "You really think he _likes me,_ likes me?"

"Oh, sweetheart, that boy is putty in your hands. You've absolutely no reason for concern…or jealousy," she added dryly. I cringed, embarrassed that she'd seen through me so easily.

"But if you feel like having a little fun, I can suggest a compromise," she continued in that quicksilver, chirpy way of hers.

My head jerked up, and I eyed her with cautious interest. "What sort of a compromise?" I thought it might be a little too obvious if I went down to meet Edward's family 'dressed to kill'...so to speak.

"My idea is simple. I picked out an outfit that I've seen you wear—you look fabulous in it—and I know, without a doubt, that it will bowl Edward over. After you've tried it on, you can change into something more suitable for a little family get together, but believe me, the damage will already be done."

I frowned at her, confused. "So, you'll get Edward to come and see me in the fancy clothes and then I'll get changed? Won't that seem a little weird?"

"Oh, no need for that. You can just show _me_, and I'll make sure Edward is watching."

A slow smile spread across my face as I considered Alice's plan. I wasn't much for dressing up, but the thought of 'bowling Edward over,' right before my competition arrived—_all three of them_—held a very strong appeal.

I was tempted to avoid looking at my reflection in the mirror after Alice left me to shower, but an irresistible curiosity drew me in its direction. That wild, out-of-control kiss had left me feeling_...different. _Would it show? Or would this new epiphany of sensation, longing, and desire be hidden by the changes that made the new 'me' so unrecognizable?

I froze, stunned by the image of the girl reflected back at me. She was even more amazing than I remembered, and oh yes…the effects of that wild make-out session were clearly visible. Her long hair was tousled in what could only be described as sensual disarray...bed hair. A spaghetti strap from her camisole had fallen off one shoulder, leaving the smooth, creamy flesh totally exposed, and her lips were red and swollen. But it was the eyes, with their smoky sheen and sultry, sleepy, half-lowered lids that told the biggest tale. _This_ girl was seriously hot, and she looked like she'd done things that I could only dream of.

The bewildering thing was that this girl, who somehow reminded me of a younger, sexier—if that was even possible—Angelina Jolie…was me! And I _had_ done the things that put that look in her eyes. Just remembering made me sway a little on my feet.

Who was this girl, and what had she done with plain, insecure but reliable Isabella Swan?

I was tempted to shower quickly, but I took some time under the soothing spray to try and make sense of my careening thoughts. The possessiveness I felt for Edward wasn't logical—_I barely knew him!—_but I _wanted_ him like I'd never wanted anything before in my life. I should be focusing on my family, their loss, _my_ loss, but I'd somehow managed to lock my grief away...no doubt temporarily. I knew the pain and confusion would be waiting for me whenever I chose to open that particular door, or when it forced its way open, but for now I had the world's best-looking vampire to impress. My confidence was at an all-time high in terms of my new and most definitely improved appearance, but he'd gone this long without noticing the available females in his life. It would be just my luck if he started noticing them now.

Drying quickly, I gave myself over into Alice's extremely capable hands. When I was deemed ready, she left, and I dressed in the little black dress she'd laid out for me. She wanted her first viewing—and Edward's—to be of the final results.

Eyeing the five-inch stilettos I'd strapped to my feet with trepidation, I was surprised to find my newly acquired vampire skills made walking in them ridiculously easy. I quirked an eyebrow. That wasn't something I'd ever imagined being able to do.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to view myself in the full-length mirror and gasped in a startled breath. Even after my earlier viewing, the stunningly beautiful woman reflected back at me was so unlike my mental image of myself that I had to wave a hand to confirm that 'she' was indeed 'me.'

A slow, sultry smile curved my lips.

Yes, this was the image I'd like burned into Edward's brain just before my rivals arrived. He'd said I was the only girl he'd ever been attracted to in his entire life…and I hadn't even been trying.

_~OB~_

EPOV

I paced across the foyer, awaiting Bella's arrival. It had been nearly forty-three minutes, and I wondered what was taking them so long. Peeking was not an option…but I was sorely tempted.

_Oh, Edward,_ Alice chimed, just when I thought I couldn't wait another minute. _There's something I think you might like to see._

Gratefully invading Alice's mind just as she looked up from the fashion magazine she'd been reading, I saw Bella enter the bedroom dressed in a very short, silky black dress. It left her shoulders bare, dipped low in the back and only reached a quarter of the way down her thighs to where her incredibly long, silk-clad, legs stretched to her delicate, stilleto clad feet. Her hair was swept up in a messy, sexy style, and her already stunning eyes smoldered with a smoky sheen.

All the blood left my head and went…elsewhere.

My balance deserted me and I fell sideways, landing on one of Esme's antique tables, demolishing it and sending a large vase of flowers crashing to the floor. The family came running, all except for Alice who was busy laughing and reassuring Bella that I was perfectly fine.

I snorted. I doubted I'd ever be 'fine' again.

What was Alice trying to do to me? Restart my non-beating heart just to kill me all over again?

Ignoring my family's teasing thoughts, I helped Esme clean up the mess I'd made, all the while trying to suppress the tension rising inexorably within me. As much as I would have preferred to think only about Bella, in particular how she looked in that amazing dress...the Denalis were getting close. I'd begun catching snatches of thoughts as their car approached the turn-off to our property.

It had been a few years since I'd seen the clan that was essentially our extended family, choosing not to accompany my family on their trips to Alaska and making sure I was many miles away when the Denalis came to visit. The arguments I'd had with my family over my perceived 'rudeness' were legendary, but in the end I'd chosen my sanity over their understanding.

It's not that I hadn't tried to explain why I wanted to keep my distance…many times, but for reasons I'd never fully understood, this was one battle I always lost. In all other circumstances, Carlisle and Jasper were the epitome of reason and understanding, but not this one. Only Alice had remained my ally, her visions never aligning with the rest of my family's, or the Denalis', determined wishes.

I was _not_ destined to be with Tanya, no matter what she, or anyone else, wanted.

Fear gripped me as I considered the possibility of Bella reacting the same way my family did whenever the Denalis were around.

_I should never have agreed to this, _I thought, shaking my head as I paced the foyer. My only hope was that she might somehow be as immune to Tanya's charm as I was…as I was determined to be.

_~OB~_

BPOV

Edward was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, as promised. He smiled up at me, but the expression didn't quite reach his eyes.

What had I been thinking, wanting him to see me all dressed up like that? Did he think badly of me for wearing such a daring outfit, or was he disappointed that I'd changed into casual clothes?

I hesitated at the top of the stairs, feeling like an idiot for having behaved so out of character...that's assuming my character had survived my transformation. I hadn't exactly been 'myself' lately.

Edward closed the distance between us in the space of a heartbeat. He reached out, and I gratefully placed my hand in his, carefully returning his gentle, reassuring squeeze. When he stared down at me, I swayed closer, my body drawn to his like a magnet.

"You look wonderful," he whispered huskily.

"Thanks. So do you," I replied in similarly hushed tones, as sweet, tingly butterflies invaded my stomach at the sexy timber of his voice. I had changed into jeans and a dark blue sweater, nothing special, though I had to admit Alice seemed to have very nice taste in clothes. Edward, on the other hand, was wearing casual black pants that hung quite low on his hips, and a grey shirt that hugged his torso in a way that made my mouth go dry. I found myself wondering what he thought of the dress I'd modeled for Alice—_and him_—but was too shy to ask.

The realization caused me to smile. Hopefully my character hadn't changed that much after all, bloodlust and occasional episodes of outrageous behavior notwithstanding.

The sound of a vehicle pulling up to the front of the house caught my attention, that and the alarmingly close, crystal clear voices I could suddenly hear.

I flinched, and tightened my grip on Edward's hand.

"It's all right, Bella. It's just Carlisle and Esme greeting the Denalis."

"But it sounds like they're standing right next to us!" I looked around in alarm. Edward had no reason to lie, but it sounded like his parents and the others were standing right beside us, not outside the house.

"It's one of those things about being a vampire that can take some getting used to...being able to hear _everything_," Edward said with a rueful shrug. "The family has been keeping the noise down as much as possible so as not to alarm you. But you're coping so well, they're letting themselves get back to normal."

_Coping well_, I mused. I was glad someone thought so. Considering my behavior out on the back lawn, I didn't want to know what 'not coping' looked like.

"Should we go and meet your friends?" I ventured when Edward seemed content to ignore the reunion occurring downstairs. I would have been quite happy to forgo the meeting altogether, but hiding from a challenge, _or an unpleasant situation, _was not normally my style. Besides, I was curious. I could hear every word of greeting and the rushed explanations, answering rapid-fire questions, about the chaos I'd brought into the Cullen's lives...well, Edward had brought, I supposed. The chaos extended to my life as much, if not more, than theirs.

Edward flinched, not for the first time since we'd met on the stairs, and I leaned back to look into his eyes, wondering at the tension I could feel in his muscles and sensed hidden behind his strained smile.

"Edward?"

"Yes, of course." He nodded, and then surprised me by pulling me close for a quick embrace. I smiled against the wall of his chest, the expression lingering on my face as hand-in-hand we descended the stairs together, _almost_ managing a human pace.

Hesitating at the entrance to the living room where the Cullens and their guests had assembled, his wide brow furrowed into a frown. "Remember, there's nothing to be afraid of. They're our friends."

I nodded, Edward's tensely spoken words not creating the effect I think he intended, as I wondered what it was about the Denalis that bothered him so much.

We entered the room together with our hands tightly clasped…maybe a little _too_ tightly, I realized as I felt the bones in Edward's hand grind together.

"Sorry," I whispered, quickly easing my grip. Glancing up, I caught him smothering a wince.

"It's not a problem," he replied, his smile surprisingly intimate considering the size of our audience.

I knew there was a room full of vampires watching us—eleven of them to be precise—but while every one of my newly enhanced senses was on alert, I couldn't drag my eyes away from Edward's tender gaze.

Then he winced…again, his body radiating tension. _Could vampires suffer from headaches? _I wondered, concerned.

Stepping closer to my side, he released my hand to tuck me beneath his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around me. "Bella, I'd like to introduce you to our northern cousins." He gestured toward the visitors with a brief nod of his head but kept his eyes fixed on mine. "Everyone, this is my…This is, Bella."

I returned his smile, then taking a deep breath to bolster my courage, I turned to face the room full of vampires…ridiculously good-looking vampires.

"Hi," I offered weakly, swallowing hard, feeling like I'd walked onto the set of a daytime soap-opera.

Everyone was standing, the Cullens to either side of the room and the Denalis in the middle. Carlisle introduced me to Eleazar and Carmen whose Spanish heritage was quite evident, despite their vampire 'pallor.' They smiled in greeting, as did Kate and Irina, but it was Tanya who captured my attention. She was a stunning strawberry-blonde, dressed in a very tight, red dress that showed off the sort of swimsuit-model body that normally graced the cover of a men's magazine. Her smile sent a shiver running down my spine and caused venom to pool in my mouth, the word _barracuda_ coming to mind.

Jealousy reared its ugly head as I wondered how I could hope to compete with her sophistication. While I knew I looked different—_better _than I had when I was still human—that barely assimilated knowledge didn't stop my old insecurities coming to the fore.

"Edward, darling," Tanya purred, ignoring me completely as she sauntered toward us. "You _have_ been a naughty boy. What would the Volturi say if they knew you'd changed a child?"

Edward growled, reacting to Tanya's clearly inflammatory words, though I wasn't quite sure of the context. My hackles rose, and my shield activated of its own accord...the best I could manage was to keep it wrapped close around Edward and myself. I risked a quick glance at Jasper, but he seemed oblivious to the sudden tension, and I wondered why he wasn't helping.

Edward's arm tightened around my shoulder, "Bella is seventeen years old," he hissed. "The _exact_ same age I was at my change."

Tanya stopped a few feet short of us, regarding me with a dismissive glance. "How sweet," she murmured, her voice sounded anything but_._ "Maybe we can include her in our fun…since she's almost legal."

Edward shuddered violently, and Tanya's smile widened.

I looked around the room, bewildered. Something horrible was happening to Edward, and yet none of his family were reacting other than to gaze adoringly at the woman, whom I suspected, was tormenting him in some way.

"Leave her out of this," Edward growled, his tone and expression positively feral.

"Oh, I don't think that's going to be an option," Tanya murmured as she turned her attention my way. She reached out, as if she was going to touch my cheek, only to pull back with a hiss when she came in contact with my shield.

"Mmm, the kitten has claws," she muttered, her lips curling into a tight smile that didn't reach her eyes.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but knew enough to want to get the hell out of there, _especially _if the Cullens weren't going to intervene. Dragging Edward toward the door, I had one goal, to get him to safety, but to my surprise he did his best to hold us in place.

"It's all right, Bella. Tanya and her family are here to help. We _need_ them." His reassuring tone was at definite odds with the tension I felt radiating from his body.

"Yes, of course," Tanya interjected as I reluctantly allowed Edward to draw me back into the room. "We're here to help, aren't we?" She included her family who all added their assurances, along with a few laughing comments about 'newborn skittishness.'

As far as I was concerned, my reaction didn't have anything to do with my being a newborn, and everything to do with the fact that something weird was going on—well, _weirder—_and that _something_ was hurting Edward.

We took our seats on one of the leather couches, the others following our lead and seating themselves around the room.

_Don't worry; Tanya is lovely and very trustworthy. Edward just over-reacted._

The thought came from nowhere, taking me by surprise. I shook my head, trying to clear a sudden fuzzy feeling. Looking up, I saw Tanya watching me from the seat she had taken directly across from us.

_She _was_ lovely, and only had our best interests at heart. How could anyone think otherwise?_

I sat back a little and relaxed against Edward.

_Why had I wanted to leave? I guess I'd over-reacted too._

Tanya smiled at me, and I smiled back.

_She and Edward were so well-suited and clearly destined to be together. It didn't make sense that he kept fighting the inevitable. I should step back and let fate take its course, now that Edward had finally 'awakened' to the possibility of being in a relationship. It was only right that he should be with his one, true love._

The thoughts made perfect sense...except that they didn't. I frowned and shook my head again, tapping the heel of my hand against the side of my head.

I didn't really think those things...did I?

A sudden determination gripped me as I remembered Edward's earlier comments. He'd been adamant he wasn't interested in Tanya.

No, _I didn't_ think or believe those things.

Looking around the room at the uncomfortable expressions on the Cullens' faces, I saw the furtive glances they sent our way, and wondered if they were struggling with the same, intrusive thoughts. They'd probably accepted them easily enough in the past, but I imagined the situation was a little more complicated...with me there.

Of one thing I was fairly certain, Tanya was using some sort of mind control. She must have a talent, like Edward, Alice, and Jasper, though I wondered why no one had warned me about it…_unless they didn't know. _Whatever was happening, I wasn't about to let her control me _or_ continue hurting Edward. From the thoughts she'd tried to force upon me, it seemed she wanted to possess him, not harm him, but regardless of her motives, he _was_ hurting and she was to blame.

I had to find a way to block her control. The thoughts that continued to press against my mind were seriously compelling, and I could imagine how easy it would be to surrender to their allure.

I sat back, keeping a bland expression on my face...as best I could. Tanya seemed satisfied with my apparent submission and allowed the conversation to return to neutral ground. While the two families began to discuss the upcoming memorial service and ideas for hiding Edward and me from the wolves, I let the words flow around me and considered my options. Tanya wasn't the only one with a talent, and while I barely knew anything about mine—how it worked, or what it was capable of—I decdied that now was as good a time as any to learn.

Not even sure if it was possible, I concentrated as fiercely as I could on blocking her thoughts. The shield intensified instantly, its faint glow flickering in my peripheral vision. Seconds passed, then a minute, with no other change, but then the unwelcome yet strangely fascinating thoughts grew quieter and became easier to ignore.

_Yes! _

I hid my triumphant smile behind my hand and concentrated on blocking the thoughts completely. It took a while, but eventually I could no longer hear the faint 'hum' of Tanya's power. When I was confident I had enough control to maintain my shield at a consistent level, I turned all my efforts to blocking Tanya's attack on Edward.

He was _mine,_ and she wasn't going to hurt him anymore!

_~OB~_

_**Can't you just picture her growling away while she's thinking this? **_

_**Please review. Reading your thoughts and ideas is such a buzz and very encouraging. :-) **_

_**xxx TLS**_


	15. Fight!

_**I just found out I've been spelling Stephenie Meyer's name incorrectly all this time**__** - its Stephenie with an 'e' not and 'a'. I feel like I've failed Twilight 101!**_

_**Thanks to all my readers and reviewers and to everyone who has been 'tweeting' this story. Your support is incredibly encouraging, inspiring and greatly appreciated. :-)**_

_**You guys gave me quite a giggle**__** these last two weeks. Chapter 13, my little 'lemon/lime', received nearly 50 reviews, whereas chapter 14 only got 15. Ha! No wonder there's so much smut in Twific! **_

_**Thanks so much to my lovely Betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro**__**, to Content1 for her patience and perseverance with prereading this little tale, and to hotwardfangirl for sharing her terrific 'instincts'.**_

_**Posted: Saturday, August 13**__**th**__** 2011  
>Words: 6028<strong>_

Chapter 15

Fight!

EPOV

If I'd thought being around Tanya would be easier with Bella by my side, I'd been sadly mistaken. Though avoidance was still my preferred method of coping, I'd grown somewhat blasé over the years when it came to my ability to deal with Tanya's usual methods of harassment. My ability to read the thoughts and motives _behind_ her projected thoughts, cancelled out their deceptive effect...mostly. But that didn't stop her from trying, nor did it abate the barrage of visual _enticements_ she used to attempt to sway me to her will.

While a lifetime of exposure to the sexual thoughts of both humans and vampires alike had rendered me relatively immune to their effect, it was still unpleasant to find oneself starring in someone else's pornographic fantasies. That Tanya's thoughts were so damnably explicit and mentally dominating didn't help matters. The woman simply did not know how to take 'no' for an answer, but then, she'd never really had to. She didn't love me, nor did she truly believe that I was her soul mate, but I had denied her the affair she'd desired decades earlier and therein lay the seeds of her obsession.

I'd suspected fairly early on that there was something 'not quite right' about Tanya, but it had taken some time to discern that she had a manipulative talent. She'd kept it very well hidden. None of my family members were aware of it, nor had they believed me when I'd tried to convince them of its existence…she was that good. To my frustration, they were convinced that _I'd_ been wrong to reject her, despite the gentlemanly manner in which I had gone about it.

Esme thought Tanya was lovely and, since she 'clearly adored me,' couldn't understand my reluctance to embrace a relationship that she was convinced would bring me great joy.

Carlisle had repeatedly challenged my 'misguided sense of self-denial,' concerned that my self-loathing and negative view of my 'superior, immortal status' were influencing my choice, denying me the possibility of love and a soul mate.

Rosalie had merely demanded I 'get over myself' and stop ruining everyone's happiness with my perpetual sulk.

Jasper had struggled to resist the pressure Tanya exerted, his innately moral nature at odds with her deceitful commands for him to force me to feel the lust she wanted me to reciprocate. It wouldn't have worked anyway. Jasper's ability was impressive, but not even he had been able to awaken that aspect of my physiology, and not for lack of trying. He and Emmett had attempted to emotionally ambush me on more than one occasion—in jest—but Bella was the _only_ one to ever inspire such a response.

Alice, as always, was my closest ally. Though her thoughts told her that Tanya and I were 'meant to be together,' her visions, which she trusted implicitly, never backed them up. This hadn't stopped her from scolding me for refusing to decide to be with Tanya, so she could see the outcome everyone but I desired.

Emmett, for all his jocularity, was the one whose views most closely mirrored my own. He'd worried I'd been changed too young, that my sexual development had been delayed for some reason, and that I'd therefore been denied my _full maturity_ by the frozen in time element of vampire transformation. This confused him a great deal, as he clearly remembered his own sexual awakening occurring at a much earlier age than I'd been when I was changed. I'd endured his ribbing, not bothered by the persistent enjoyment he received from alluding to my supposedly 'prepubescent' state, as I'd thought he was right...and I hadn't particularly cared.

But times had changed. We'd been wrong to think I was incapable of sexual desire—I was _more_ than capable—but it would seem that my body's responses _had_ been frozen, kept 'on hold' as it were, awaiting the right trigger…awaiting Bella.

Carlisle's plan to ask the Denalis for help had filled me with trepidation, but his reasoning had been sound. And if I were honest, I'd secretly hoped that once Tanya saw me with Bella she would realize, once and for all, that I would never capitulate to her desires.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

To my chagrin, Tanya saw this change in my behavior as the opportunity she'd been waiting for. She thought I had finally awakened to my sexual nature and saw no reason why that desire should not be directed her way. From the moment she came within range, she'd assaulted my mind with her compelling, seductive thoughts and graphic sexual images. It was exceedingly unpleasant, but no more effective in terms of garnering a response than usual...until she'd seen Bella and me together. Then things had taken a turn for the worse.

When Tanya saw that I wouldn't be diverted from Bella's side, she _included_ images of Bella in the explicit fantasies she projected. Barely able to focus on the conversations going on around us, I desperately sought for a way of escape. We needed the Denalis' help to cover up Bella's presence and keep her safe, but I wasn't sure how much of this particular form of torture I could take. Tanya bombarded me with images of Bella and me...naked, our bodies entwined as we writhed in each other's arms. It was obscene, an evil invasion of our privacy, morally corrupt…and so damned enticing I could barely think straight.

I'd wanted Bella from the first moment I saw her, but never expected to see my dreams fulfilled, and Tanya's attack targeted my fears, my weaknesses, and my newly emergent lust. If Jasper wasn't deceived by her manipulations, he might have been able to help me resist. As it was, the images Tanya projected had me so aroused, I was afraid I was going to embarrass myself—or worse—drag Bella away and force myself upon her.

_What did Tanya possibly hope to achieve?_ As far as I could tell with my lust-fogged brain, all she'd accomplished was to confirm the incredible attraction that held me in Bella's thrall.

But then the projections changed, and with a growing sense of horror I understood Tanya's intentions. The graphic image of my body moving over Bella in erotic abandon slowly morphed until it was no longer Bella's sweet, passion-filled face I saw beneath me...but Tanya's. She believed she could seduce me with the idea that I could just as easily feel for her, with her sophisticated beauty and worldly allure, what I did for the sweet, naïve girl tucked carefully beneath my arm.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

I groaned and squeezed my eyes tightly shut against her ongoing violation. It was nauseating to be so sexually aroused while these new images filled my mind, my ardor quickly cooling as Tanya's plan backfired.

Once I had regained some control, I looked to Jasper, desperately hoping for his help. He was confused, his thoughts at complete odds with the emotions he was detecting, from me in particular, and to my relief, I saw that he was watching me, his face a mask of concern.

_You all right, Edward?_ he queried silently. I shifted my head fractionally from side to side, the movement slight but enough for him to catch my meaning.

_Something's not right, _he agreed, rubbing his forehead. _You've never cared for Tanya…not really...not the way you care for Bella. _She's_ your mate, not Tanya. You love her._

I wasn't sure I was ready to admit this to myself, let alone anyone else, but after all the years of my concerns being dismissed and denied, the hope that Jasper was _finally_ breaking through Tanya's deception flooded me with relief. I nodded, my mouth curving into a smile as I made my admission, even while my body shook under the strain of Tanya's continuing assault.

_There's a lot of confusion in the room. _Jasper gestured with a slight flick of his fingers. _I think it must be the same for the rest of the family; their thoughts not aligning with their feelings about the two of you. And _you're_ under enormous strain! _His eyes snapped back to mine. _Edward…is _this_ what you've been trying to tell me, all these years?_

My smile widened at Jasper's blossoming comprehension, but then I saw his eyes glaze as his attention refocused on Tanya. _But she's so lovely…and you two are so well suited. Bella's young; you've barely known her a week. She couldn't possibly understand you the way Tanya does…_

His thoughts continued in this vein, as did the rest of the family's. Tanya continued to bombard me with images of the two of us engaged in sexual activity, some scenes including Bella as part of an unholy threesome as a salve to my current—but 'temporary'—infatuation. At the same time, I heard from her thoughts that she was putting maximum effort into exerting control over the occupants of the room.

I bowed my head in disappointment, my hand stroking Bella's arm as I sought comfort from our connection. But I couldn't control the growl that rumbled in my chest, nor could I take any more of this torture.

Logically, I _knew _I wouldn't be able to protect Bella without my family's support, but I was desperate, and seriously considering grabbing Bella and making a run for it...when a miracle happened.

The world went silent.

I'd experienced silence from the thoughts and images that flowed from minds other than my own before, but usually in the deep recesses of the forests or high in the mountains...never in a room full of people. But it all stopped: the myriad thoughts that I'd spent a lifetime learning to filter, compartmentalize, and manage, as well as the images, memories and fantasies that accompanied those thoughts.

_Tanya's thoughts! They were no longer assaulting me!_

I froze, not in distress, but in exhilaration...and confusion.

"Is it working?" Bella whispered, her hand reaching to squeeze my thigh, just above my knee.

I stared at her hand on my leg, absorbing the exquisite sensation of her touch, while doing my best to vanquish the disturbing memory of Tanya's fantasies involving Bella and myself. Then her words registered in my decidedly befuddled brain.

"You're doing this?" I asked in amazement, turning to face her at the same time as I covered her hand with my own, anchoring it in place. She nodded, smiling up at me, her expression beatific…and triumphant.

"I managed to block her thoughts with my shield, and then I tried to block her from attacking you…and it worked!" Bella explained, her voice low but excited. "That's what she's doing, isn't she? Attacking you? Hurting you somehow? But no one could see, or would help you, because her thoughts are stopping them. They're really compelling thoughts; I almost gave into them myself," she admitted, her expression turning rueful.

"Bella, you're amazing…" I murmured, losing myself in her beauty and perfection. She gazed up at me, her long, dark lashes fluttering as her shy smile mirrored my own. The moment was achingly sweet, redolent with a tentative, burgeoning hope…until it was shattered by Tanya's ear-piercing screech of rage.

"How dare you! How dare you block me out, you little—" Tanya's words, and her attempt to _physically_ assault Bella, were cut off when she came in contact with Bella's barely visible but highly effective defense. Bella must have found a way to increase the shield's intensity while keeping it closely arrayed around us, and I marveled at her perceptiveness. My pride in her surged as I considered her cleverness and the incredible control she was exhibiting for a newborn.

Tanya wasn't quite as impressed when a jolt from Bella's shield sent her tumbling backward to the floor…screaming.

The room erupted into chaos.

"Bella, do you think you could shield the others from Tanya's thoughts as well?" I queried urgently, ignoring the cries and confusion around us. Tanya was momentarily stunned, but I could hear her determination to regain control of the situation as quickly as possible.

"I could try," Bella offered tentatively. "I guess I'd have to hold their hands or they'd get zapped. I don't want to hurt anyone…well other than _her_." She gestured angrily toward where Tanya was now standing, surrounded by her indignant family and my worried siblings and parents.

"Jasper, Alice," I called, beckoning them to our sides as I urged Bella to her feet. They approached us, their expressions reluctant.

"That really wasn't necessary, Bella," Alice scolded gently. "Tanya's here to help and…and…"

I could hear the confusion in her thoughts, as she'd been about to parrot more of Tanya's lies and manipulations.

"I'm sorry," Bella offered contritely. "Would you and Jasper stand by my side and help me stay under control? I really think it would help if you held my hand."

I gaped at Bella's audacity and her brilliance. Trying to explain or directly refute Tanya's manipulations would have proven ineffective. I should know, as I'd tried often enough over the decades. We needed to get them on _our _side of the shield to have any hope of a breakthrough.

Bella's tactic worked beautifully and Alice reached to grasp her hand, Jasper automatically included in our group due to his arm being wrapped protectively around his wife. I flinched as a sudden cacophony of sounds and images from the occupants of the room assaulted my mind when Bella briefly dropped her shield to avoid hurting Alice or Jasper. She reactivated it as soon as she had a firm grasp on Alice's hand, and the world went blessedly quiet again, or relatively so. To my relief, my theory appeared to be correct, as now that they were on _our _side of the shield, I could easily hear Alice's and Jasper's confused but clearing thoughts and no one else's.

"Edward, what's going on?" Jasper demanded, sensing the anxious yet determined tenor of our emotions.

I grabbed my brother's arm, drawing the four of us into a circle while rapidly explaining what I knew of Tanya's previously "hidden" talent.

"You've told me this before…or tried to," Jasper murmured almost absentmindedly as he pulled his arm away to rub the back of his neck. Then his head snapped up, and he eyed me intently. "I didn't believe you; I don't think I could…because you were right all along. She's been controlling us…influencing and manipulating our _thoughts_, the way I can influence emotions."

"Oh, Edward, I'm so sorry." Alice projected an image of her hugging me in apology, an action she was unable to carry out without letting go of either Bella's or Jasper's hands.

"We can talk about this later," I interrupted, relieved and gratified but not wanting to lose momentum or our tentative upper hand. "Right now we need to explain this to the others, to help them break out of Tanya's thrall."

Jasper and Alice nodded their agreement and beckoned the other members of our family over. The two couples came to our sides, their expressions confused and distressed…all except Rosalie, who was seriously annoyed.

"Who the hell do you think you are, to treat Tanya like that? She's my friend!" Rosalie raged at me as soon as she approached. I hid my smirk, though I found it interesting that she blamed _me,_ despite the fact it was Bella's shield that had done the damage. None of them seemed to think there was anything odd or inappropriate about how Tanya had tried to attack Bella, which merely showed that Tanya's compulsion was still at work.

Jasper and Alice spoke quickly, explaining my theories regarding Tanya's talent and their own experience of having _thoughts_ that did not align with their feelings or foresight. At first, the others were reluctant to hear anything negative about Tanya, but eventually, being protected by Bella's shield allowed them the opportunity to break away from her hold.

"If Tanya has been controlling us, why has the effect not dissipated when we've been apart?" Carlisle challenged; a question I'd asked myself many times over the years…and struggled to answer.

"I think there is a powerful post-hypnotic element to her ability," Jasper offered, his expression thoughtful. "And she's not been asking us to believe anything _too_ extreme. One of our greatest desires as a family has been for Edward to find his mate. Tanya had us convinced she was a genuinely lovely person and that she cared for him, so why _not _want them to be together?"

"I don't understand why she didn't just convince us to combine the two families to force the issue," Esme puzzled.

That had been one of my greatest fears in the early years of her obsession, as I would have had no choice but to go out on my own.

"It isn't easy for her to maintain the use of her talent over long stretches of time." I told them what I'd discerned about Tanya's talent. "She barely uses it at all with her own family..." I stumbled a bit over my words at this point. It would be so easy for me to paint Tanya as a complete villain—and incredibly tempting—but I knew that wouldn't be a completely accurate assessment. She could have manipulated her family far more than she had, but she genuinely cared for them and appreciated the honesty of their feelings for one another.

It wasn't as if she needed any more advantage than she already possessed when it came to getting her own way or seducing the human males she occasionally toyed with. There were times when I wondered if Tanya would have become fully aware of her talent if it hadn't been for the fact that I had thwarted her desires. Up until then, I don't think she'd even realized what she was capable of, as her innate charm and charisma meant her needs and wants were almost always fulfilled.

Eleazar, of course, was aware that Tanya possessed a talent, but she'd manipulated him into believing it was both minor and latent, and convinced him not to disclose his views to the rest of us. From what I could tell, her controlling Eleazar this way was one of the few times Tanya had used her ability against one of her family.

Her scruples, however, did not extend to those of us outside the Denali clan.

"It suited Tanya for their visits with us to be quite short, as she didn't have to keep up the pressure and pretense for overly long periods of time," I explained, attempting to keep things simple.

"And of course, we played right into her hands with our concern for your loneliness making us open to accepting her suggestions." Carlisle shook his head, dismayed by the depth and extent of his friend's betrayal.

"I still can't believe we've all been duped…and for so long," Esme murmured while rubbing Carlisle's arm, offering him tactile support.

"Edward wasn't duped," Emmett added dryly, shrugging his shoulders in a silent apology. "Sorry we didn't believe you, bro."

The rest of my family murmured their own regrets and apologies…all except for Rosalie. She and Tanya were good friends, and she was the one finding it the most difficult to accept the reality of this ongoing deception. They were all still a little shocked by the revelations and by the gradual disentangling of the falsely implanted thoughts and suggestions from their minds. I wasn't sure how it was happening, but just being inside Bella's shield was enough to negate the effect of Tanya's commands and control.

"Carlisle, would you please tell us what's going on?" Eleazar demanded from across the room. "We've gone out of our way, disrupting our lives at a moment's notice to come to your aid. This is hardly the reception we expected. What is all this talk of Tanya _deceiving _you?"

Carlisle looked to each of us, and we arrayed ourselves in a line, determined to show a united front…for a change.

"Eleazar, Carmen, Kate, Irina," Carlisle began, "There is something we need to tell you that is…_distressing_ and may be difficult to accept. In all honesty, what I have to explain is probably better _shown_ than told_. _Is there any chance you would be willing to trust in the history of our long and valued friendship and place your hands in mine…just for a moment?"

Tanya growled her anger at Carlisle's request, but I could sense her ability to maintain control was waning. She'd expended a great deal more energy than normal trying to sway my family to her will, in the face of my obvious attraction for Bella. I hoped her temporary fatigue would give us the window of opportunity we needed to break through with the other Denalis.

"Does this have something to do with the young lady's shield, because I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen a talent of such potential magnitude before?" Eleazar's words grabbed everyone's attention, causing alarm bells to ring in all our minds. We knew of his past with the Volturi, and how Aro had used Eleazar's ability to scout out potential talents that could be useful, and _used by_, the elite, ruling power.

"You're right," he nodded at me, correctly interpreting my horrified expression. "Aro would stop at nothing to possess one as talented as your young friend…if he knew of her existence. We must do whatever it takes to keep her identity a secret."

"Let Aro have her!" Tanya hissed, and her family stared at her in surprise.

"Tanya, how can you say that?" Kate demanded. "You don't even know the girl, and you _know _what the Volturi would do with her. You can't mean to sacrifice her just because…" Her words trailed away, but her thoughts revealed what she'd not felt able to say. Kate knew how much Tanya wanted me and wasn't surprised by her jealousy. She was also aware that I did not reciprocate Tanya's feelings, but not Tanya's methods of coercion…though she had her suspicions

Eleazar stared pointedly at Tanya then walked across the room to take Carlisle's hand.

"Tell me what's going on, old friend," he asked calmly, but with determination.

"Tanya believes Edward is supposed to be her mate." Alice took it upon herself to answer, having rapidly scanned the future and deciding this was the best approach. From experience, we knew enough to trust her judgment. "She's wanted that for a long time and has tried to _convince_ us to agree with her, to support her and try to influence Edward," she continued, her voice gentle but entreating. "But it never worked, no matter how much Tanya wanted it. You can't _make _someone feel that way about you. Finding one's mate…it just happens."

Kate looked at Tanya, her expression pained, and then she turned to me. "Edward…is it true. Have you found your mate?"

Kate's thoughts were a jumble of anticipation and dread. If _I _could find my mate after all this time, then there was hope for her and her sisters as well. But she was also aware of how this disclosure would affect Tanya.

I froze, unable to find the words—any words—with which to answer, and Jasper answered for me.

"Yes, he's found her," he said with confidence.

I felt Bella tense beside me.

"Edward?" she murmured. I squeezed her hand, giving her a comforting smile, while what I really wanted to do was howl my frustration. The last thing Bella needed was this sort of pressure, _especially _in her fragile, newborn state.

"Oh, Tanya," Kate murmured, turning to her sister. "Alice is right; you've wanted this for so long…" Kate's voice broke on a sob and the other Denalis seemed to share her disappointment.

I was happy for them to accept Alice's carefully worded explanation and hoped that Tanya would accept what was offered—a simple case of affection unreciprocated, or at worst, of love unrequited. It would give her a way to back down without exposing her duplicity or damaging her pride. I don't think any of us wanted to see our friends' close-knit family destroyed, though we'd have to do something about alerting the other Denalis to Tanya's hidden ability…eventually. I could sense from my family's thoughts that, despite the severity and depth of Tanya's manipulations, they were hesitant to see her brutally exposed. She _was _supposed to be one of the good guys.

Bella, however, was not on the same page as the rest of us.

"I don't care what she wanted; it doesn't give her the right to torture you!" she hissed at me. I hoped she'd fall quiet when she realized she'd gained everyone's attention, but she continued on determinedly. "What I don't get is why Tanya's thoughts hurt you so much? I mean, we _all_ felt them. They were compelling but they didn't _hurt..._did they?" she asked, looking to the others for answers.

"What do you mean you all _felt_ Tanya's thoughts?" Carmen demanded, Irina echoing her query.

Everyone started talking at once, and I was just thankful that Tanya remained surprisingly subdued. She'd exhausted her abilities for the moment and was taking the moment to regroup.

"What are you saying, Bella?" Esme eventually demanded, her voice rising above the others. "Edward, what's going on?"

I shuffled from side to side. "It's nothing…really," I murmured, not wanting this to go any further.

"Edward?" Bella asked, looking up at me with confusion. "It didn't seem like 'nothing' to me. You were..._flinching_."

"Is there something you haven't told us, son?" I could hear the strain in Carlisle's voice. "Or was it something you _tried_ to tell us, and we didn't...believe you." Struggling with guilt and confusion, he replayed multiple meetings and conversations which he now had cause to question in regards to their authenticity.

I hesitated, trying to think of a way to prevent the truth from coming out into the open. It was personal, humiliating in its way, but more importantly, might upset Bella.

Unfortunately Jasper had other ideas.

"You're right," he agreed, addressing Bella's concerns. "Edward was under an enormous amount of stress earlier and definitely in pain. I remember sensing it, but my responses were being blocked by Tanya's interference...I guess."

Groaning, I ran a hand through my tangled hair. "It was nothing…really." I tried my most dazzling look, attempting to distract Bella from pursuing this line of thinking. Her determined expression dashed my hopes, and I knew I had no choice but to explain…something.

"Tanya realized a long time ago that she couldn't influence my thoughts, as I could hear the true intention behind them," I explained, choosing my words very carefully. "But that didn't stop her, especially when she realized that she could use my talent against me by projecting visual images to try and sway me to her way of thinking."

Bella frowned, and I could hear my family pondering my words. I was hardly surprised when Emmett was the first to accurately interpret my cautious phrasing. He guffawed with laughter and I glared at him, willing him to silence, unsuccessfully, as ever.

"I'd hardly call that torture, bro…a beautiful babe including you in her fantasies? You can count me in next time!"

Rosalie, not surprisingly, took offense to Emmett's ill-thought-out jest.

"Would you care to explain yourself, Emmett?" she asked, her tone and expression glacial.

"Oh, yeah…babe, um, didn't mean that quite how it sounded. It's just that Edward's been complaining forever about Tanya 'tormenting' him with, er…_pictures_ of the two of them…together. I wouldn't exactly call that torture." He shrugged, apparently not realizing he was digging himself an even deeper hole.

Bella tried to tug her hand from mine, but I refused to let her go. Emmett had just earned himself a serious beating, and I wouldn't be holding back.

"I thought you were in pain," Bella whispered to me in an aside, clearly mortified. "I'm sorry I made a fuss. I didn't realize…"

"I _was_ in pain, Bella. You were the first one to ever see that," I pleaded for her understanding.

"Oh come on, Edward," Emmett piped up. Sometimes the guy just didn't know when to quit. "I get that Tanya's done the wrong thing, trying to influence us with her witchy thoughts, but girls fantasize about you all the time! Why not enjoy Tanya's little daydreams?"

"Because I can't block them out!" I all but shouted, pushed to my limit. "You think this is fun, Em…a game? How would you like to be _forced_ to be a part of someone's perverted fantasies? To see yourself doing things you _don't_ want to do with someone who cares _nothing_ for your feelings? Someone _you…can't…stand_?"

My outburst was met by shocked silence and even more stunned thoughts. Then all hell broke loose…again.

"Oh my God…Edward!" Rosalie's voice eventually broke through the chaos. "If what you're saying is true, then that would be…I mean, that sounds the same as…"

Rosalie was, rightly I supposed, comparing my experience to her own. While I wanted to reassure her that what I'd been through was mild in comparison to what she'd endured, I couldn't help feeling a certain level of vindication.

My relief was short-lived. In the confusion that followed my words, Bella slipped her hand from mine. I hadn't realized that the shield was no longer activated and certainly never guessed her intention. But when Alice got a glimpse of what was about to occur, and I saw what Bella was planning, I spun toward her, terrified that she'd be hurt in the process.

"Bella, stop!" I shouted, my words coming too late.

Flashing across the room, she easily evading our belated attempts to restrain her. Brushing Irina and Carmen aside, the two strong, experienced vampires flying backward with disconcerting ease, she crashed into Tanya, taking them both to the ground in a tangle of long, pale limbs. We all heard the crack when Bella's hand connected with Tanya's cheek.

"You evil bitch!" Bella screamed as she struck Tanya another stinging blow.

I was a little surprised by her language, but oddly…gratified. It was extremely satisfying to be defended, though I was concerned that Alice's vision of Bella actually _decapitating_ Tanya might come true, as I didn't think Bella would be happy if we let her inflict _too_ much damage. Fortunately, it appeared unlikely that Bella would be harmed in the melee, her strength and speed far outclassing Tanya's...a thought-provoking reminder of her startling newborn abilities.

"Jasper!" I shouted, above the noise of the growling, hissing girls rolling on the ground. They'd already pulverized several smaller pieces of furniture, and we needed to end this thing before it got any more out of hand. On the positive side, Bella must have changed her mind about inflicting permanent damage on my strawberry-blonde nemesis, as she seemed content to inflict stinging, humiliating blows but hadn't actually attempted to tear Tanya apart.

_Was I disappointed?_ Maybe a little.

Jasper, Alice and I waded into the fracas, attempting to separate the two girls without further harming either, though Bella seemed remarkably unscathed. Tanya, however, was looking a little the worse for wear. I could hear from Emmett's thoughts that he was disappointed not to be involved in the 'subduing' process, but he seemed to realize he'd gone too far—_finally_—and showed uncharacteristic restraint.

It didn't matter. He was still going to pay.

Then Alice grabbed Tanya around the waist and hauled her backward, Tanya's thoughts revealing relief at being rescued. The fight had only lasted a matter of seconds but felt a lot longer from her perspective.

Jasper quickly pinned Bella's legs to the ground while I lay across her body and tried to hold her arms, no easy task, as she was determined to reach the now-cowering Tanya, who was hiding behind Alice and sobbing hysterically. Even with our combined strength, Jasper and I were barely able to restrain her.

_No doubt about it, Edward, _Jasper thought my way with a silent chuckle as we continued to pin the love of my existence to the ground by our combined strength and weight. _She's a live one…and definitely your mate. I wish you could _feel_ how protective she is toward you, and how enraged._

I had a fair idea how angry Bella was by the amount of strength we had to use to hold her. _And she was feeling this way on my behalf?_ The thought brought me inexpressible joy…and no small concern. Bella was reacting instinctively, but that didn't mean she was ready to embrace _another_ life-changing reality...that of being my mate.

"Bella? Bella, sweetheart?" I murmured close to her ear. She continued to snarl and struggle for a moment, then stilled, her body tense but no longer fighting against us. "It's all right now; I'm fine. You stopped her, remember? She can't hurt me anymore."

Bella turned toward me, and I released the arm I'd been pinning down in order to brush the hair away from her face. Her eyes were black from her unspent rage, but she was calming, her breathing slowing to normal. I glanced to Jasper who nodded and released her, allowing Bella to roll against me, and we lay facing each other, my hand still gently cupping her cheek while chaos reigned around us.

Rosalie was tearing strips off Emmett's hide, her threats of retribution for his perceived insult so extreme, I almost felt sorry for him…almost. Her punishment would pale in comparison to the one I planned on dishing out.

The Denalis were demanding answers of a still very shaken Tanya, questioning their every thought and decision. I'd have to reassure them as to the limited nature of Tanya's manipulation of their lives…but not just yet. I had my own problems to deal with and wasn't feeling particularly sympathetic where Tanya was concerned.

Carlisle was reassuring a very distressed Esme. She felt terrible, as if she'd let me down somehow, and I sighed, knowing I had some reassuring to do, but also knowing it would have to wait. The sweet, insecure, and incredibly precious girl lying beside me was my priority now.

"It's all right, Bella. Everything's going to be okay," I crooned, and she burrowed in even closer against my body. Nuzzling her hair, I breathed in her intoxicating scent, which seemed even more potent after her bout of extreme physical activity. _She smelled so good!_

My earlier arousal burst back into life fully formed, and I couldn't resist the moan that escaped my lips at the feel of our bodies pressed together. While I wanted to damn Tanya to the lowest levels of hell for her evil interference, I couldn't quite bring myself to totally suppress the images she'd planted in my mind of Bella and me together.

_Edward? _Jasper thought my way after a few moments. _You think you could dial it down a notch, unless you _want _this catastrophe to turn into an orgy? There's only so much intense emotion I can contain, and I'm kind of reaching overload here._

Despite his wry tone, I could tell he wasn't joking. _Alice was in for an interesting evening_, I thought, then sighed, knowing _I _did not have the right to indulge such fantasies.

I tried to move my lower body away from Bella's, but it proved to be an impossible task, as she clung to me like I was the last lifebuoy thrown from the Titanic.

_Damn Jasper, he'll just have to manage somehow, _I thought, letting the beautiful girl, who in less than a week had become my entire reason for…existing, snuggle against me for all she was worth. Bella was upset, she needed me, and I wasn't about to let her down.

Besides, in the state I was in, moving wasn't exactly an option.

_~OB~_

_**Hope that answers **__**some of your questions about Tanya's gift. Gotta love 'feisty Bella' and totally turned on Edward! **_

_**Reviews are greatly appreciated and might help me overcome my writer's block with Chapter 17. Argh! I know where I'm going; it's the bit in the middle giving me grief – and probably the fact that I'm exhausted from moving house. **_

_**Thanks for staying with me on this crazy journey.**_

_**xxx TLS**_


	16. Declaration

_**It feels weird having to say this every chapter, but...**__**Stephenie Meyer created it – I'm just obsessed with it. Note, I spelled her name correctly this time. :)**_

_**Thank you to my wonderful betas, **__**Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, and to **__**C**__**ontent1, for prereading OB and my crazy, steamy Twi-Regency-Romance, 'A Forbidden Love.' **_

_**Thanks DarkChubb for reminding me how irritating it is when AU 'Bellas' have such over the top powers that they become invincible. Don't worry – I've got it sorted, I promise!**_

_**Special thanks to Beckaboo924 for the lovely banner she made for OB and for offering to make a banner for the aforementioned "Twi-Reg-Rom" Yay!**_

_**And finally, a huge 'thank you' to all my lovely readers and reviewers for staying with me on this epic journey. **__**More action ahead soon…I promise!**_

_**Posted: Friday August 19**__**th**__** 2011  
>Words: 5670<strong>_

Chapter 16

Declaration

EPOV

Bella's shield, which I was learning to track out of my peripheral vision, was flickering on and off, her expression increasingly desperate. While I'd finally convinced her to stop apologizing, I could tell she was still upset over the earlier disclosures…and her reaction.

When I finally managed to get us up off the floor we'd taken a seat together, Bella tucked close to my side and our hands firmly grasped. She refused to meet anyone's gaze but seemed happy enough to sit with me as we watched the unfolding drama. I found it quite entertaining, with Tanya in the uncomfortable and unprecedented position of having to explain her actions and admit her wrongdoing. I didn't know if it was the beating she'd taken at Bella's hands or knowing that Bella's shield could effectively block her ability, but she hadn't tried to deliberately mislead or manipulate anyone since being denounced. If she _did _try, I'd be able to warn the others, and this time I was confident they would believe me.

After a while, Bella began to tremble, and I stroked her arm attempting to soothe and reassure her. While I might be enjoying the show, she had clearly reached emotional overload...an unlikely though possible experience for a mature vampire, but all too common for a newborn. It was obvious the discussion involving my family and the Denalis wasn't going to reach a conclusion anytime soon, as an awful lot had been disclosed in a short period of time, and everyone's nerves were frayed. Jasper was doing his best to calm the volatile situation, but even his considerable talent was being stretched to its limits, and the tension wasn't helping Bella.

Catching Jasper's eye, I indicated my intention to take Bella away from the pointless argument. My decision had been made regarding Tanya a long time ago, even if the others were only just coming to terms with that fact. As for Tanya's part in all of this, I was under no compunction to stay and try to sort out the mess she'd created for herself. I had more important concerns...namely Bella's well-being.

"Would you like to get out of here?" I murmured close to Bella's ear, and she nodded, her grip increasing painfully on my hand until the bones cracked. We both flinched, and she quickly eased the pressure, her eyes shooting to my face in alarm.

"I'm sorry," she cried, her brow furrowing with tension as we stood together. "You'd think I'd remember not to hold too tight."

I smiled gently, ignoring the inconsequential pain and wanting to let her know that I was okay. "You've got a lot on your mind. It's fine," I murmured reassuringly, leading led her away from the crowded, noisy room.

The basement would be the quietest place, but I sensed Bella's hesitation when I glanced that way, so I turned us in the opposite direction. We'd have to spend the better part of the day below ground while the others attended the memorial service, and I thought she might appreciate having a view of the outside world even if it was the middle of the night.

As we walked up the stairs together, I couldn't help thinking of all the times I'd walked this way alone, and a surge of happiness welled up within me.

"Your bedroom?" Bella asked, quirking her eyebrow as we neared our destination. I hadn't seen that particular expression on her face before and was momentarily distracted. Then when she licked her lower lip and then pulled it inside her mouth with her teeth, I almost stumbled.

_What was it about this girl? _The slightest nuances of her expression could completely derail my concentration…and coordination. I'd never experienced anything like it before, certainly not since becoming a vampire. While I could recall feeling a little uncomfortable on occasion, nothing had ever affected me the way Bella did, with just a look.

Dragging my attention back to her question, I hoped she hadn't noticed my lapse.

"It's not as quiet as your, er..._room_, but I thought you'd enjoy the view. And we can play some music to help drown out the noise from downstairs," I explained as I ushered her through the door.

Bella nodded. "Oh…okay," she murmured, sounding uncertain.

As we stopped just inside the door, I found myself also feeling uncertain, _especially_ when Bella let go of my hand and walked into the room alone. Stopping in the middle, she did a slow, graceful pirouette, taking everything in before crossing to the huge sliding door that opened directly out into the forest. It was the middle of the night, but that was no hindrance to our ability to enjoy the view of the forest beyond.

"No balcony or stairs?" Bella queried, looking at the twenty foot drop to the ground below. The nearest tree was close to thirty feet away.

"I don't need them." I shrugged, and her eyes grew wide.

"Oh, yes, of course. You can just…jump." She laughed hesitantly, and then her smile faded.

Watching her from the doorway as she wandered around my room, I thought she seemed nervous. Suppressing a snort, I realized I was too, as I wondered what she must think of my personal space, my belongings, the parts of myself that were effectively on display.

I'd left a pile of books and magazines lying on a coffee table beside my couch and could only imagine what Bella made of the eclectic collection as she carefully studied them one by one. Since I always read the latest medical journals to keep up to date—and because Carlisle valued my opinion—there were several recent ones amongst the pile...along with a history of the life of Bach, in German; a dog-eared copy of _The Iliad_ in the original Greek; and the latest Patterson thriller. She raised her eyebrows at the last one, and I shrugged. He was good.

Then Bella made her way to my 'wall of music,' as Alice called it. I had the largest and most varied collection of all the family, something Emmett attributed to my lack of a sex life, a conclusion I'd never contradicted. My self-imposed banishment from the house when the couples turned amorous—a very regular occurrence—could get a little tedious. And in the past, they hadn't minded when I played my music up loud to drown out the sounds of their passion. The more recent invention of high quality ear-buds had done away with that necessity, and we were all now able to enjoy our privacy in relative peace.

"That's a _lot_ of music," Bella murmured, as her fingers ran softly over the edges of the CDs that lined the shelves, then she turned to my stereo and asked permission to turn it on with a questioning look. I nodded, and the soft, sweet strains of Claire de Lune filled the room.

I shrugged uncertainly at her questioning look. Young people from Bella's generation did not usually have taste that ran toward the classics, but she seemed to like it. Smiling, she swayed a little to the music, then her smile faded, her expression turning sad.

"What?" I asked, wondering if she would tell me what had brought on her melancholy.

"Mom likes Debussy."

I froze, my mind scrambling for the right thing to say…or do, but then I saw her lower lip quiver, and my heart clenched. Swallowing hard, I walked slowly toward her, relieved when she placed her hand in mine and let me lead her in a slow twirl under my arm, but then she jerked to a sudden stop.

"I…I don't dance," she muttered, looking down and letting her hair fall in front of her face.

I remembered her human battle with clumsiness but wasn't sure she'd appreciate my reminding her of her newly acquired coordination. Instead, I sought for something comforting to say and came up empty. _Maybe a distraction would be more useful?_

"That dress you tried on for Alice...was _made_ for dancing," I murmured.

Bella's head shot up, her eyes widening as she bit her lip…again, and I realized that could quickly become a problem as desire slammed into my lower gut like a fist...a very _pleasurable _fist. Forgetting everything else, I imagined myself reaching out and gently pulling her lip from between her teeth, then soothing it with my thumb, and my lips, and my tongue...

Groaning, I dragged my eyes away from the tempting sight. It was obvious that Bella wasn't the only one battling with new and uncontrollable reactions.

"You…you saw the dress?" she asked after a moment, her voice trembling in a way I found incredibly endearing, but then she frowned and ducked her head again. I was fairly certain she _knew_ I'd seen the dress—that she'd worn it for that express purpose—but she seemed bashful about it, and I decided that the least I could do was reassure her regarding my reaction.

"I saw the dress," I answered evenly, despite my inner turmoil at the recollection. "And I will no doubt continue to see the dress, with you in it, every time I close my eyes for the foreseeable future."

A shy smile broke out on Bella's face and I felt ridiculously self-satisfied to have been responsible for putting it there. But then her face fell, and I clenched my spare hand into a fist. While I was desperate to know what was bothering her, I stopped myself from asking what could only be a very stupid question considering all the possible culprits.

Had her thoughts returned to her mother or the other family members and friends she'd been forced to leave behind? Or was she thinking about not being able to go out in public for at least a year, probably more, because of her newborn thirst and lack of control?

I shouldn't have mentioned dancing, though I had no idea if Bella harbored any secret desires to go clubbing. Somehow, I didn't think that Bella—sweet, innocent, and the daughter of the local police chief—was the sort of girl to be in an overwhelming hurry to experience adult-only entertainments.

Stifling another groan, I refrained from smacking myself in the head. _What was I thinking?_ She hadn't even graduated from high school or attended her senior prom yet, just some of the significant events she _should _have experienced as a part of her human existence...if I'd let her live.

A wave of self-loathing swamped me as I wondered if Bella had considered all of the ramifications of being robbed of her human future. I didn't think she had—not fully—but I knew what she would be missing, _and_ who was to blame.

Running my free hand raggedly through my hair while she continued to peruse my music collection, oblivious to the battle raging within me, I reminded myself that Bella didn't want me to leave. She needed me to help her...and hopefully she would need me for even more one day.

I was interrupted from my increasingly desperate thoughts when she tugged on my hand. Loathe to release her, I followed her as she crossed the room to my leather couch and took a seat facing her, our hands, thankfully, remaining entwined.

Squaring her shoulders, Bella took a deep breath, and then looked me in the eye.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked, her voice trembling despite her determined demeanor.

"Anything," I replied immediately, urgently.

Bella dropped her eyes, and I ducked down to try and recapture her gaze, but she refused to meet my eyes.

"What did the others mean…when they said that I am your mate?" she murmured, her words barely audible.

I froze in reaction to her words, my body immobilizing as my mind tumbled headlong into a maelstrom of hope, desire and utter terror while scrambling ineffectively for a useful reply. I didn't want her to feel pressured, _or_ rejected and struggled to think of what to say, or rather what _not _to say. Flummoxed, I couldn't think of _anything_ to say, and sat staring dumbly while Bella traced the indented pattern on my black leather couch.

"Of course, I _know_ what the word means," she spoke when I didn't. "But I'm not sure of the context when it comes to, well to…_vampires_. Jasper introduced Alice as his mate, not his girlfriend…"

"Wife, actually," I interjected, automatically correcting this common misconception.

Bella's head shot up, a look of surprise appearing on her face. "Jasper and Alice are _married?_" She seemed stunned, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she frowned and continued. "Oh yeah, I forgot. They're older than they look."

I nodded my reply, still wary of saying the wrong thing_._

"What about the others, are they married too? Carlisle and Esme look old enough, I guess, but Rosalie and Emmett?"

I nodded, and Bella's mouth fell open again before she snapped it shut.

"Carlisle and Esme married not long after her change, the same with Rosalie and Emmett, after he came to be with us," I found the courage to explain. "Actually, Rose and Em have married quite a number of times over the years."

"Wow, she must really like weddings." Bella's eyes widened at this disclosure.

I nodded in agreement, then smirked when I thought of how much Emmett was willing to put up with, all for the sake of going on multiple honeymoons.

"Both Carlisle and Emmett refer to their partners as wives, not mates, but Jasper lived a more _traditional_ vampire lifestyle for a long time, and tends to word things differently."

"Huh." Bella shuddered and then studied a loose thread she'd found poking out of a seam. She was working it between her fingers, and I wondered how long it would be before the seam separated, not that it mattered. We were talking, and Bella seemed reasonably okay with the unconventional subject matter. She could dismantle my entire room for all I cared.

"So…the others are all couples, _married_, and mates?" she asked, glancing up at me briefly before averting her gaze.

"Yes, that's right." I nodded.

"What's the difference? I mean, between a partner and a vampire's mate?" Bella persisted.

Suspecting she wouldn't be satisfied with a vague reply, I closed my eyes while taking a deep breath. After composing my thoughts, I opened my eyes to see her she was watching me avidly, and this time _I_ was tempted to look away.

"Vampire's don't usually bother with, er…dating, not in the early years, the bloodlust being the all-consuming, driving force," I explained. "Mature vampires will pair up for a while, but it is unusual for them to form strong bonds. There's just too much competition between individuals for the available food source."

Bella shuddered again, but I kept going. She seemed to want the truth.

"But occasionally a bond is formed between vampires which goes considerably deeper."

"When they find their mates?"

"Yes," I acknowledged.

"Like Carlisle and Esme…and the others_._"

I nodded. "We think our chosen lifestyle, which helps us brings the worst of the bloodlust under control, releases us to be able to form much stronger, more lasting bonds than are typical for other vampires, _and_ to finding our mates if we come across them. Kate, Irina and Tanya have been looking for a long time…and no, contrary to what she might have said, I'm not Tanya's mate. I was just the first person to ever reject her advances, and she didn't know how to deal with that."

Bella frowned, seeming puzzled by my disclosure. "So, Tanya used to, er…hook up with _traditional_ vampires, sometimes?"

I paused, unsure how much to explain about the Denali girls' histories...and proclivities.

"Not traditional vampires, no," I ventured. "The Denalis value human life as we do and couldn't in good conscience spend time or become intimate with indiscriminate killers."

"So, who then?" Bella's crinkled brow was too much for me to resist, and I reached out to smooth it gently with my forefinger. She smiled a little, even as she tried to suppress her reaction, and it was clear she was not to be diverted.

"The girls occasionally enter into relationships with human males," I admitted reluctantly.

Bella gasped and sat up straighter. "But Alice and Rosalie said that's impossible, that it would be too dangerous for one of you to date one of us." She shook her head. "I mean a human."

Grimacing, I ran a hand across the back of my neck. "Let's just say that the physical dynamics of female vampire-human male relationships are a little more feasible than the other way around."

Bella froze, her eyes wide and her mouth forming a perfect 'O' at my words, and I could only imagine that she was picturing what I had not wanted to describe. After a long moment, she ducked her head, and I could guarantee that she would have been blushing a beautiful, rosy color if she'd still been human. So would I, if I could have.

I sighed, missing Bella's beautiful blush even if I'd only been privy to it a handful of times, but I was pleased that I was learning to read her expressions, just as I read other's minds.

"So, a vampire finding their vampire 'mate'…is that like…love at first sight?"

"A _little_." I waggled my hand to show she was close but not quite right with her assumption. "Humans fall in and out of love very easily. Their emotions can be quite shallow, and they are very easily distracted or dissatisfied."

Bella's eyebrows rose at my comment, but she didn't interrupt.

"Vampires, on the other hand, are very singular creatures. I know that Alice and Rosalie have told you that the way a vampire looks after their change, is essentially how they will remain for as long as they exist. The same could be said for _who_ we are, as well. It's not that we can't learn or that we don't grow and mature, but our basic temperament—who we were and what we were feeling_ before_ our change—carries over to our new life."

Bella frowned for a moment and studied our joined hands. "That could explain a few things," she muttered. I wanted to ask her what she meant, but she continued before I got the chance.

"So how _does_ a vampire fall in love, I mean, if their emotions can't change much?"

"Not easily," I admitted. "But profoundly. When vampires meet their mate, that one person they are 'destined,' for want of a better word, to spend their existence with, the bond between them runs deeper than anything a human couple could possibly experience."

"Hey! I know some people who've had long, happy marriages," Bella retorted. "Though not many," she finished a little dispiritedly.

I chuckled, which earned me a severe frown, so I quickly schooled my features.

"I don't mean to disparage the commitment made by some human couples; I'm just trying to explain the difference between vampire 'mating' and the typical human experience of falling in love."

"Well…what's the big difference?" she demanded,clearly annoyed at my words.

"Vampires never fall _out_ of love," I said succinctly, and Bella gasped. She sat back and would have tugged her hand from mine, but I held tight.

"_Never?_" she whispered, and I didn't know if it was awe or horror that colored her tone.

"No, never," I smiled, thinking of the love I'd been privileged to witness grow between the couples in my family over the decades. "The feelings never fade, never diminish. If anything, they intensify over time as the added bonds of shared experience and intimacy are included."

"What? They never argue, never disagree?" Bella seemed perplexed by my disclosure, but she'd wanted the truth.

"It depends on the couple." I chuckled, recalling some of Rosalie's and Emmett's monumental 'disagreements.' "But from what I've seen, when two vampires are committed to each other to that degree, they are highly motivated to resolve any differences. Their mate's happiness is essentially their own."

"Wow!" Bella breathed. After a long pause, she ducked her head and went back to tracing the pattern on the couch. "This mating thing, is it ever one-sided?" she asked, her voice quiet and uncertain.

I flinched as if struck and couldn't speak. Her words cut so deep that I forgot to keep up the façade of breathing, the tiny seed of hope I'd been harboring within my heart withering and dying. While I was trying my best to appreciate everything that Bella was going through, her words made me question whether she felt _any_ of the things that I was feeling. I knew she was attracted to me, her reaction after she'd hunted was testament to that fact, but sexual desire was only part of the mating process. Had I done too much damage for her to ever form a bond with me?

Bella was studying me intently, and I realized I'd been silent for too long.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," she muttered, her voice sounding stiff. "I was just wondering. I mean, Tanya seems to think that you're her mate, even if you think she's just possessive...or something. And Alice said both Kate and Irina would have liked a relationship with you, but you weren't interested, so…"

"I've never heard of a true mating being one-sided," I offered cautiously. I _was_ learning to read her, and it was clear I'd hurt her feelings with my hesitation; I just needed to figure out why. Could she be worried that I didn't feel that way about her, that her feelings weren't reciprocated?

Running my hand through my hair again, I contemplated my dilemma.

If I told her how I felt about her, really felt, would that reassure her—or make her feel pressured?

_Just tell her the damned truth! _Jasper barked at me from the floor beneath.

_Please, Edward, _Alice added. _You have to trust us. Your feelings aren't one-sided, and she really needs to know…though don't push her, whatever you do!_

_How the hell was I supposed to do both?_ I thought with exasperation but some small measure of gratitude for their insights, as hope resurrected and began to blossom within my chest. Along with it came the seed of an idea.

"Remember when I told you that you are the only girl, human or vampire, whom I've ever been attracted to?" I asked. It was a rhetorical question, but Bella nodded, her eyes wide and intent on my face. "I _meant_ it, Bella, and my feelings haven't changed."

She drew in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then seemed to sway a little where she sat. Relieved at her reaction, and hoping it meant I was on the right track, I steadied her with my free hand against her shoulder and she leaned against it.

"My feelings won't _ever_ change," I admitted cautiously, and her eyes snapped open, captivating me with the intensity of her gaze.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" she breathed.

I nodded. There, I'd said it—sort of—and she hadn't run screaming…yet.

"So you think I'm your mate and that means you feel…that you're…"

She shook her head and looked away, clearly embarrassed again. I was looking forward to banishing that emotion from her repertoire _permanently_. Lifting her chin so that she had no choice but to look me in the eyes, I cupped her face with my hand, caressing her soft cheek with the pad of my thumb.

I was ready to say this…I just hoped it wasn't too soon and that she was ready to hear it.

"That means I'm in love with you, Bella, and I always will be."

I'm not sure what reaction I was expecting, but it wasn't for Bella to gasp, snatch her hand from mine, and begin pacing the room.

Where the heck were Jasper and Alice when I needed them? Their thoughts had become strangely muted, and I realized that Bella's shield had activated and was encompassing the entire room. I wondered if she knew she was protecting me within its circle without having to hold my hand, though I wasn't sure I wanted to enlighten her to this fact, as I appreciated every excuse I could get to hold her hand.

Slowly standing, I stayed by the couch, watching her with growing despair.

"I'm sorry, Bella," I uttered despondently.

"Oh no, don't be," she threw my way, like scraps to a desperate, starving street urchin. "I'm flattered…and…and relieved, _really_ relieved." She looked at me, her lovely mouth lifting into a half-smile even as she continued her frantic pacing, and I snorted. Why I'd thought I was getting a handle on reading her facial expressions and body language, I'll never know.

"Relieved?" I grabbed hold of the most promising word she'd used.

She nodded her head emphatically. "Yeah…_really, really_ relieved."

"And you're 'relieved' to hear that I am in love with you…because?" I prompted.

Bella stopped her pacing and came closer, reaching out to me. I grasped her hand immediately, and she sighed. We both did.

"Because I thought I was the only one with these crazy feelings," she admitted, looking shyly up at me through her lashes. "And that you were gay. Though after we talked today and then, er…out on the back lawn, I kind of ruled that one out."

Not even Bella's shield could buffer the sound of Emmett's laughter from downstairs. It seemed the discussion between the two families was finally over, and we had become the focus of everyone's attention.

"They can hear us?" Bella swung to face the door, spinning me behind her with the speed of her movements.

"They've only been listening for a little while," I tried to reassure her as I led her over to the stereo and changed the soft, classical selection to something with a louder, heavier beat. The new music wasn't overly conducive to the conversation we were having, but I thought Bella would appreciate a little privacy. I, for one, didn't want to hear anyone else's thoughts or opinions at this point in our conversation…only Bella's. With my mission accomplished, I turned to where she was looking up at me, that damned, alluring lip of hers once again caught between her teeth.

"So, you feel it as well?" I couldn't refrain from asking.

"I…I _think_ so," Bella admitted, a fierce scowl furrowing her brow. "I mean, I don't know about all this vampire soul-mate business, but I do know I feel so much better when we're together. And I have this crazy need to be touching you all the time—that's if I want to stay remotely sane." She shrugged, and I couldn't tell if she was pleased or appalled by the situation. "I'm also ridiculously attracted to you, but so is every other available female, so I don't think that counts for much."

Her last words were muttered despondently and my heart, which had soared to hear that she found me attractive, slowly deflated, as she didn't seem overjoyed by the admission.

"What aren't you sure about?" I asked, hoping to gain some insight into her thoughts and feelings.

"I'm not saying it's _not_ real," she said, looking up at me, her expression pleading for my understanding. "But…it's a lot to take in."

I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"Dont' get me wrong, but I'm only a junior in high school, or at least I was. I've never had a boyfriend, never even been on a date. Out in the yard…well, that was my first kiss." She shrugged again, looking so forlorn that I pulled her into my arms for a gentle, and hopefully comforting, embrace.

"Hey, it was mine, too," I gladly admitted.

"Really?" She leaned back to look me in the eye. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry."

She would have pulled away, but I held her firm, and to my relief…she let me.

"Don't be sorry…it was wonderful," I told her. "But it wasn't a very typical 'first kiss,'" I agreed, doing my best to view the situation from sweet, seventeen-year-old Bella's point of view.

"No, it wasn't." Bella shook her head sadly. "Not that I'm saying it was bad or anything. I mean, it felt wonderful, but…"

"A little out of control?" I suggested, and she nodded quickly.

"So many things have happened to me in such a short space of time," she continued urgently. "And I haven't had control over _any_ of them. It's a little overwhelming to think that _another_ huge area of my life has been decided for me, without any say-so on my part. I just…I just…" her voice trailed off, and she shrugged helplessly.

I _thought_ I understood what Bella was feeling, and so I gently led her back to the couch where we resumed our positions opposite one another with both hands joined. Unable to resist, I lifted her hands to my mouth and kissed the back of her knuckles in an old-fashioned, courtly gesture. She didn't seem to mind, and her missing smile made a shy emergence, fueling my confidence regarding the plan that had suddenly come to mind and I was about to instigate.

"Bella, I've got a suggestion," I spoke softly, my eyes intent on her face. "I was wondering if you'd like to slow things down a little and see where they go at a more 'human' pace?"

"What do you mean?" she queried, cocking her head to the side in the cutest way known to man—_or vampire—_her eyelids fluttering.

_Whatever you're planning, you're onto a winner!_ Alice interjected excitedly. Bella must have calmed enough for her shield to deactivate, and I sighed. Ignoring my eavesdropping family's cacophony of thoughts and partly mollified by their verbal silence—Bella didn't need to know we still had an audience—I continued.

"I know we've only known each other for a short while, and the circumstances around our meeting have been far from ideal…" Her eyebrows rose at that statement, so I hurried on. "But…I was wondering if you would be interested in...going out with me?"

It felt strange to use this particular wording, the vernacular that I had gleaned from a thousand fantasies, and delighted realities, of a myriad of teenage girls and boys. I held my breath, waiting to see if I'd done the right thing.

"As in 'boyfriend, girlfriend' going out?" Bella asked, and I nodded.

A slow, sweet smile spread across her face, and my heart swelled in my chest. She ducked her head but maintained eye contact, her pose coquettish and innocent and intensely arousing all at the same time. Shifting in my seat to hide the growing evidence of my desire for this wonderful, sweet, forgiving, awe-inspiring girl, I was all but overcome with relief that I seemed to have gotten it right.

"Yes," she answered, the word beautiful in its simplicity. "I think I'd like that very much."

My smile stretched my cheeks so wide I risked splitting my face as joy burst within me, Bella's expression matching my own. For a long moment, we just stared at each other, grinning.

"So, how will that work?" she asked eventually. "I mean, it's not like we can go on a date or anything. Dinner and a movie aren't exactly an option."

"Oh, I think I can manage to come up with some workable alternatives," I offered. "But for now, there's something I'd like to try."

Bella cocked one eyebrow but thankfully did _not_ start chewing on her lower lip. If she had, I would have had to abort the next stage in my plan for fear of losing complete control.

"Keep still," I breathed, and her eyes widened as I slowly leaned in toward her. Ignoring me, she knelt on the couch, bringing her face level with mine. "Don't move," I pleaded and hesitated for a second, my mouth hovering a fraction away from hers.

_I could do this! _I could give Bella the sweet, controlled 'first kiss' she deserved. But, it would take every ounce of restraint I had developed over the previous eight decades of denying my urges, my desires…the monster within me.

Closing the distance between us, I let our lips touch…gently…lightly, with the softest of caresses, but the extreme care I took made little difference. A firestorm of desire exploded within me, sending lightning strikes of pleasure pulsing throughout my body,and I shuddered, pulling back. Disappointed crashed over me as I was forced to admit that I couldn't do it. I wouldn't be able to hold back, and no matter how much I didn't want to, I had to stop.

Bella had other ideas.

She came up on her knees, pressing our bodies close together and tangling her hands in my hair. Our lips came together, meeting and melding as our breaths combined.

_Oh, sweet, sublime torture!_

The kiss deepened though I did my best to keep my mouth closed and my ferocious passion restrained. Then Bella's tongue tentatively traced the seal of my lips, and I was lost. I moaned and her sweet, softness invaded the dark depths of my mouth, exploring, enticing, and entreating my tongue to tangle with her own.

A part of me could have kissed her for hours and asked for nothing more. But another darker, hungrier side wanted to possess and consume and devour, to push her back against the end of the couch, to cover and subdue her with my weight, laying my body in the cradle of her hips. And that was just for starters. Then…then_…_

My mind went places my body was desperate to follow, but I'd made her a promise I refused to break and desperately cut off that chain of thought.

_First kiss! First kiss! First kiss! _I chanted to myself. _I must stop! _

Minutes passed, long, sensual, passion-drenched moments etched forever in my mind as the most blissful of my entire existence.

_Bella! _

She was everything I never knew I wanted. Everything I'd ever missed. Everything I would ever need.

But she had needs of her own, needs I was determined to fulfill.

Groaning, I wrenched my mouth away from her too-tempting lips and held her at arm's length with hands that trembled. She whimpered, her eyes dark with desire as she stared at me through half-closed lids.

"First kiss, Bella," I rasped, breathing hard. "Taking it slow…remember?"

Comprehension slowly dawned on her face and I waited anxiously for her reaction. Then she smiled, a sweet, shy and very pleased smile, and the breath whooshed out of my lungs with relief. I'd been able to cage the beast…this time, and make Bella happy in the process.

_~OB~_

_**I'm not sure what it says about me, but reviews really do make my day!**_

_**xxx TLS**_


	17. Volatile

_**I blame Stephenie Meyer for all this angst...and my obsession with everything 'Twilight.' She makes all the money; we just lose sleep over her creation!**_

_**I'm not sure quite how to thank my Betas this week. Content 1 preread and ChloeCougar beta'ed Version 1...and then I trashed it (picture me sheepish and sorry.) It was just too weird and made Bella seem like she was battling multiple personality disorder – though I think it will make an interesting out-take. Version 2 was a big improvement, and I thought I had it nailed with Version 3. Then hotwardfangirl – the reviewer with the impeccable instincts and ability to help me cut through my illogical plot divergences – took one final look and whipped my OOC butt into shape. Squeaky Zorro then beta'ed this chapter...for the final time. I think a Version 5 would have been grounds for justifiable homicide!**_

_**Now for some exciting news! **__**Thank you so much to the lovely person who nominated me for an Emerging Swan Award for 'Newbie Author!' If you feel so inclined you can go and vote for me at emergingswanawards dot blogspot dot com. I know I have at least one vote, (thank you CullenFest – you're a real sweetie!) so I won't be totally humiliated, but more votes would be nice. #flutters eyelashes endearingly#**_

_**I apologize in advance for the angsty nature of parts of this chapter. The grief counsellor in me just won't allow Bella to brush over things quite as easily as SM did. But I promise, action, drama and romance are just around the corner. ;)**_

_**Posted: Saturday August 27**__**th**__** 2011  
>Words: 3302<strong>_

Volatile

Chapter 17

BPOV

I didn't want the kiss to end, but when Edward pulled back, I let him. His offer to take things slowly had been welcome, though I didn't resist when he pulled me down to lie beside him on the long, leather couch. Wrapping his arm around my shoulders, he held me close as we watched the daybreak slowly lightening the forest beyond his bedroom window. It was...blissful, but little by little I found myself coming back to earth as reality—new and exotic though it was—encroached with the dawn.

A knock on the door interrupted our interlude.

"Go…away…" Edward muttered quietly, not even bothering to turn his head.

"It's Rosalie," he explained to me with a sigh. "She wants to 'talk,' but she can wait until later..._much_ later."

"Edward, don't be a dick!" Rosalie snipped, her voice sounding clearly through the closed door. "You know I've come to apologize; now let me in."

I spoke up before he could refuse her request. "It's okay. You guys should talk." While I was nervous at the thought of Edward leaving, I hadn't had any time to myself, other than in the shower, since I'd first heard his voice in the fire. "I could do with some alone time," I explained, trying to sound encouraging and hoping he couldn't see the fear behind my smile.

Rosalie entered the room at my words and eyed Edward pointedly. He ignored her, studying me so intently I was fairly certain he was trying to invade my mind. _That must be frustrating, _I thought, secretly relieved that his talent didn't work on me. It was bad enough that Jasper could read my emotions and Alice predict my actions, without my thoughts being accessible as well. _And_ by my new boyfriend!

"I'll be fine," I insisted, hoping I was telling the truth. My recent behaviour hadn't exactly been stable.

Relenting, Edward nodded and we stood together, our fingers entwined. Then he leaned down to kiss the top of my head, and my heart melted at his tender touch. Rosalie was standing not five feet away, but I had to fight the urge to tug him back down onto the couch and take up where we'd left off earlier in the night. It seemed an audience made little difference to my newly discovered sexual desire.

"I'll be right down the hall if you need me," Edward murmured. "I won't be long."

"Don't rush." I smiled to soften my words, forcing my head to overrule my seriously infatuated heart.

Edward nodded again and then lifted my hand to his mouth, gently kissing my fingers, before walking backward to the door. His parting look sent a shaft of pure longing rippling through my body, and I bit my lip to keep from begging him to stay.

I was being ridiculous. _Or maybe it was more than infatuation; maybe I was in love, too? _

The thought shocked me, and I sat back down on the couch with a thud.

Was that what I was feeling—love—or was it all just part and parcel of the insanity that had overtaken me? How could I trust anything I felt? I was a vampire, for heaven's sake, with a vicious temper and precious little self-control!

I sighed. Tanya might have well and truly deserved it, but I couldn't believe I'd physically attacked someone..._again. _Carlisle said that vampires possessed superior intellects, but I just felt like a crazy person. Although, I had to admit my ability to multi-task had taken a quantum leap, along with my hearing.

It was easy to keep track of Edward's and Rosalie's one-sided conversation in the room down the hall. Rosalie was doing most of the talking, but at least she wasn't giving him a hard time for a change. She was sorry for not believing him when he'd tried to explain about Tanya's abuse. And considering she'd had no trouble forgiving Emmett for killing _his_ singer, Rosalie acknowledged she might have been a tad hypocritical in the way she'd reacted to Edward's attacking me.

I wasn't sure I saw it _quite _the same way.

At the same time, I could also hear all the other conversations occurring in various locations throughout the house...though _hearing_ and understanding was not necessarily the same thing. Jasper's and Alice's words, in particular, were rather cryptic.

They'd decided to take an urgent run in the forest, though it didn't sound like they were going to hunt, and I had no idea why they felt the need to destroy the native flora as they ran. The sound of huge trees crashing to the ground in the distance heralded the path they'd taken. I'd have thought vampires, well, vegetarian ones, would be sort of 'greeny' when it came to nature, since they had to 'live off the land' so to speak.

The Denalis had also left the house, though they _were_ going to hunt and to lay some trails for the wolves to pick up their varied scents. I gathered the idea was to eventually pass off my new 'vampire' scent as belonging to one of their group, which was fine by me as long as they didn't expect me to go with them when they left. Well...not without Edward. I didn't think the need I felt to be close to him was going away in a hurry—or ever—if the whole 'vampire-soulmate' thing was true.

Did I want it to be true?

I shook my head, bewildered. I wasn't sure I had any choice in the matter. Even now, when I was finally alone, all I could seem to think about was the kiss we'd shared—kisses, actually—one sweet and one totally out-of-control.

My hand rose automatically to my throat at the memory of what had happened _before_ the out-of-control kiss...running down the deer...killing...drinking.

Blood was the other thing I couldn't stop thinking about. The overwhelming thirst burned my throat, pulsing an insistent tattoo in my head, a far louder sound than I'd ever heard from my strangely absent heartbeat. I'd been trying to ignore the 'siren call'—oh, I'd never truly understood that phrase before—but I wanted, no _needed_ more blood. So far they'd let me feed once each day. The night had passed, but I still had almost half a day to wait until I could drink again, if that was the pattern they kept to.

Was that normal? How often did they feed? The Denalis were out feeding; why couldn't I have gone with them? Would the Cullens let me feed more often if I wanted to…if I asked?

I wasn't sure I'd be able to take no for an answer.

_You don't have to...y__ou're stronger than they are._

The seductive thought dripped with the lure of sweet, soothing, intoxicating blood. And I lay back on the couch as the last time I'd fed played out before my eyes in every perfectly recalled detail. I heard the sound of the deer's heartbeat, felt the thrill of running, leaping, and landing _right_ where I needed to be. _How exhilarating was that? _I could almost feel the deer's soft furry coat, hot beneath my hands. _Had it been running a fever, or was it me? _Supposedly 'mythical' stories said that vampires were cold creatures. Edward's fingers _had_ been cold that day in Biology, but he didn't feel cold when he touched me now. He felt warm…perfect.

I latched onto the thought. Thinking about drinking blood was enough to cause venom to pool in my mouth and my muscles to tense in anticipation of another hunt. But there was one thing that could distract me, that _had been_ distracting me from the lure of blood…Edward.

_Edward was better than blood__._

I pondered the strange thought.

Did that mean I loved him? Was Edward my mate…forever?

I stood and began the brisk pacing that seemed to help when the panic started building within me.

I liked Edward, _really, really_ liked him, but 'soulmates for all eternity?' I was seventeen years old, for crying out loud! I'd had warnings about rushing too quickly into a serious relationship drummed into me by Renee for as long as I could remember.

_Take it slow. Give yourself a chance to grow up and work out who you are before you make any big decisions._ My lovable but erratic mother's words echoed in my mind.

But growing up wasn't exactly an option any more. I was stuck like this, pretty—heck, beautiful, I couldn't deny it—but _young_ for the rest of my quite possibly ridiculously long life. Well, unless the Volturi got to me, or the wolves decided I wasn't their friend any more—though that was difficult to imagine—or some rogue vampire dismembered me and burned the pieces of my body to ash. I shuddered, not at all sure how the Cullens had managed to survive for as long as they had.

How I was supposed to 'grow up and find myself' when I was doomed to look like a seventeen-year-old for the rest of my life? If I'd only ever lived with Renee, I'm not sure I would have wanted to have children of my own, having done enough mothering already. But babysitting Seth and playing with the babies and toddlers on the reservation during my summers with Charlie, had given me a different perspective. I'd always thought I would make a good mother one day, just not for a while. Now I was looking at...never.

I might not know a great deal about vampires—or other mythical creatures for that matter—but vampires having babies? They didn't change, didn't age. If a pregnancy was even possible, which I seriously doubted, the baby wouldn't be..._human. _

The thought brought me face to face with the darkest side of my new reality.

At this very moment, _my_ parents were preparing for my memorial service. It should have been my funeral, but they didn't have a body to bury, because my 'revamped' body was actually still alive and well...sort of. They just didn't know it.

I wondered if they would have chosen photos to display and picked some of my favourite music, and who would have reminded Charlie to have his suit cleaned or helped tie his tie for him. I wasn't sure how Phil would be able to stop Renee from completely falling apart without me there to help. And Jake, I could only imagine what state he must be in.

I'd only known Edward a short time, but the thought of never being able to see him again...I wouldn't wish that pain on my worst enemy, let alone my best friend.

What did that say about me? The most frightening thing I could imagine in all of this was losing the very person who was the cause of all this pain.

Renee and Charlie would never get to see me grow up and become an adult. They wouldn't see me graduate from high school or college, establish a career, fall in love, get married one day. Even if I got to do some of those things—as a _vampire—_they would never know, just as they could never know I still existed.

My knees buckled, and I hit the floor as the grief I'd been holding back crashed into me with the force of a tsunami. Curled into a ball on my side, I keened for the life I'd barely begun living.

_~OB~_

"Bella? Bella, sweetheart...can you hear me?

Edward's voice sounded like it was coming from the end of a very long tunnel. The dry, painful sobs that tore from my throat gradually quieted at his words, and I felt his arms tighten around me. _He was holding me...I wasn't alone._

"I'm here, Bella love. I've got you...you're safe," he crooned close to my ear, and I burrowed into his body, my arms finding their way around his waist and squeezing tight. The breath rushed from his lungs, enveloping me in a cloud of his sweet, cinnamon-and-sunshine scent.

_Too tight,_ I remembered, reluctantly easing my grip as I gradually gained awareness of my surroundings.

I was nestled on Edward's lap, and he was holding me close, rubbing his face against my hair while his lips brushed my brow. The icy chill that had seeped into my bones was being steadily replaced with soothing warmth as he rocked me in his arms.

"Edward," I sighed, turning my head so that I could nuzzle into the smooth skin of his neck.

"Bella?" he murmured, as my lips sought his warm skin. My hands began exploring his back through the soft fabric of his shirt—I loved the feel of his muscles flexing beneath my touch—and I shifted my legs so that I could face him and straddle his lap. Then I began to kiss his neck and along his incredibly carved jaw line on the way to my ultimate destination...his irresistible lips.

"Sweetheart?" he whispered hoarsely. "Are you sure this is what you want to be doing...now?"

I wasn't sure about anything. All I knew was that kissing Edward made the pain go away.

He tried to pull back but I held firm, his shirt tearing away from his body as he fell to the floor with me stretched out on top of him. _Oh, this was even better!_ I could feel every inch of his wonderful body beneath me, my vampire nerves so sensitive, it was as if his flimsy clothes weren't even there...and he was aroused. Like me. _Thank goodness I wasn't the only one,_ I thought as I kissed him over and over, caressing every patch of bare skin I could reach.

"Bella, please...Now's not the right time," Edward gasped, his breath coming in short, gasps. You're not thinking straight...I don't want you to regret this."

_Why would I regret it? _

My mind cleared enough for me to remember.

The memorial service was about to begin. Charlie and Renee were preparing for my funeral, and I was letting myself get carried away by lust!

Wrenching myself away from Edward, I threw my body backward. The only way I knew how to break away from the overwhelming desire I felt to be in his arms, was forcibly. Misjudging how _much _force to use, I flew through the air and slammed into the wall near the door, denting the plaster with my back. Breathing hard, I sat looking at my hands...hands that _itched_ to be holding Edward, but were currently wringing together with confusion and frustration.

"Bella...sweetheart?" Glancing up, I saw Edward crouched on his heels, his hands resting on his knees. He'd shrugged off the remnants of his torn shirt and his bare chest looked amazing...and I wanted him so badly.

_What was wrong with me? _I wondered, dismayed_. Where was my self-respect, my respect for my friends and family? _

A keening wail tore from my throat, and I ducked my head. Wrapping my arms around my knees, I rocked back and forward as the pain I'd been trying to 'distract' myself from returned like a wave of burning shame.

Edward's voice sounded closer when he next spoke. "It's all right, Bella...everything's going to be all right."

"Ha!" I laughed, a short, sharp bark and looked up to see him watching me. _All right? How exactly did he figure that? _My first bark of laughter was followed by another, and then another.

My head fell to my knees again as my entire body convulsed...with laughter this time. I laughed so hard that my stomach actually started to hurt but, of course, there weren't any tears..._because vampires can't cry!_ The thought made me laugh even harder, and I fell to my side on the floor, one hand pounding the carpet.

A part of my brain registered Jasper and Alice entering the room. They were watching me, concerned, as were the rest of the Cullens standing out in the hallway.

_Oh, great! _I thought. _Just what I needed...an audience for my mental breakdown and utter humiliation__._

"Jasper, you want to tell me what's going on?" Edward pleaded, and I wondered why he didn't just take the information about _me_ and _my_ feelings straight out of Jasper's 'non-shielded' brain.

"She's grieving, angry, aroused, hysterical. Hell, she's a newborn, Edward...what do you expect?" Jasper drawled...and I saw red, my humour disappearing instantly. _How dare he talk about me that way?_

My shield activated of its own accord and Edward's family left the vicinity...fast. Edward stayed but he started to shake, and I'm fairly certain he would have been sweating, if vampires could sweat.

"Oh, for crying out loud," I muttered and reached across the short distance between us to grab his hand. His relief was instant, and he sighed. The smile he gave me was gentle, rueful and made my irrational, erratic and stupidly silent heart ache. _Could my moods be any more volatile?_ Being a vampire felt like the world's worst case of PMS...ever.

"Feeling any better?" he asked after a moment, and I rolled my eyes and shrugged.

_Who knew?_

_~OB~_

I was heartily sick of apologizing...of having things to apologize _for._

Everyone was incredibly understanding, Edward in particular, but I wondered if I'd ever be comfortable looking any of them in the eye again. To cap it off, my emotions were still all over the place. I wanted to scream with fury, to rant and rave at Edward for setting this whole disaster in motion. I understood there were lots of 'mitigating circumstances,' but it wasn't as if I could explain those circumstances to Charlie, Renee and Jake, to try and ease their pain.

To my profound relief, Tanya had decided she needed some time away to 'think'—I really couldn't have faced her again just then. Every time I _did_ look at any of the Cullens or Denalis, those who remained, I wanted to weep. They were all dressed for the memorial, looking like they'd just stepped out of a designer catalogue, of course, but intimidating in their shades of black and grey. I'd almost forgotten that they were supposed to be grieving the death of their son, brother, and cousin. But it wasn't quite the same. They _knew_ that Edward was still alive, unlike my family whose grief was genuine.

I huddled into Edward's side, my attacker, tormenter, friend—lover?—just wanting this nightmare to be over, but not seeing any end in sight. His family were about to leave when I plucked up the courage to ask a question, the idea coming to me as I took comfort from the feel of Edward's arms around me.

"Esme?" I asked, stepping forward. I could tell she was genuinely upset by my distress. "Do you think you could do something for me?"

"Anything," she offered, drawing closer.

"If it...if it seems like an okay thing to do, could you give my dad a hug from me? He won't know it's from me, but..." I shrugged.

"Of course," Esme murmured with a sad smile. "What about your mother?"

I shrugged again. She had Phil, so wasn't quite so alone, but Dad...He had his friends, Billy and Harry, but still... I couldn't find any words to answer. Esme moved to my side and pulled me into her arms. My sobs breaking free again as I cried into her shoulder, her 'motherly' touch my undoing.

A few moments passed, the only sound my dry, aching sobs. But it was time for them to leave, so Esme passed my weeping form over to Edward.

"You going to be all right with her, son?" Carlisle asked, his tone somber.

I felt Edward shrug. "I'll do my best." The words rasped hoarsely from his throat.

"They'll be fine," Alice murmured, her voice sounding small and strained. "I can't see any problems occurring here; it's the memorial service that's a blank."

"I put some games and stuff down in the dungeon to help keep you guys occupied," Emmett offered, his tone gruff. "Might help to pass the time."

Edward nodded, and his family left us alone, wrapped in each other's arms while they went to attend our funeral.

_~OB~_

_**Okay...very angsty ending, I admit, but the poor girl has had a lot to face in a week**__**. I will do my very best to have Ch 18 up next weekend as per schedule, but my apologies in advance if it is a little late. **_

_**Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews. Almost 400! I realize that is not actually a lot for established writers etc, but I'm chuffed, grateful and very happy to have you all along for the ride. **_

_**xxx TLS**_


	18. Distractions

_**Stephenie Meyers owns Twilight. I own the 'tweaks'...sort of.**_

_**Phew...Just made it before the end of the weekend. Well...it's still the weekend 'somewhere' in the world! You'll be pleased to know that Ch 19 is already written, beta'ed and will be posted next Friday night. **_

_**Thanks so much to my lovely Betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar. And to my prereaders, Content1 and Hotwardfangirl, for helping to keep me on the straight, narrow, and remotely plausible.**_

_**Updated: Sunday September 4**__**th**__** 2011...just!  
>Words: 5006<strong>_

Chapter 18

Distractions

EPOV

Bella's frantic pacing was killing me, but it was better than watching her weep. She'd been so distraught after the family left for the service that I'd had to carry her down to the basement, but as soon as we'd entered the hidden room her mercurial moods had shifted. Leaping from my arms, she'd brushed me aside and begun striding the half a dozen paces between the 'window' and door, over and over again.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, and she came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the room, eyeing me pointedly.

"Can you go back in time and undo the mess you made?"

I winced, though I could hardly blame her for the sentiment.

"I know...I know...you're sorry," she continued before I could apologize, running her hands through her cloud of warm, brown hair. "I get it, it's just..." She shrugged, looking as lost as I felt.

"Would a distraction help?" I offered and her eyes went wide. She glanced to the bed then back to me before looking slowly up and down my body, her eyes leaving a trail of sensation in their wake. When she caught her lower lip between her teeth and took a step toward me, I swayed a little on my feet.

"I meant...Emmett's games," I rasped, swallowing hard and hoping my arousal wasn't too obvious. She _had _to have felt it earlier, but despite her flattering confidence in my powers of restraint, I didn't think I was up to having my self-control tested again quite so soon.

Stepping back, she shot me a strained look as I crossed to the box of games Emmett had left on the end of the bed. A harmless travel chess-set sat perched on top, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The box _had_ been packed by Emmett, after all.

"Do you play?" I asked, lifting the chess set and showing it to Bella where she stood, her arms crossed tightly around her middle. She shook her head, a dubious expression on her face.

"I could teach you?" I offered with an encouraging smile.

"Maybe another time." She shrugged, her hand going to her throat. "I don't think my, er...focus is up to chess right now."

My expression froze as I remembered the incredible discomfort of a newborn's intense craving for blood. It would be some hours before she could hunt again and find relief...however temporary.

"Let's see what else is in here?" I suggested, keeping my tone light and purposely not mentioning her thirst. I knew from experience that thinking about it would only make it worse.

She chewed on her lower lip for a moment and then came to stand at my side, her curiosity piqued. Reaching past me into the box she pulled out a game of Scrabble, studied it for a moment, her brow creasing into a frown, and then moved to put it aside.

"Oh, come on, you _have_ to like Scrabble...you're a literature buff!" I teased, hoping to lighten the mood, and she screwed up her face.

"Yeah, but _my _memories are fuzzy. How am I supposed to compete with your 'mega-brain' and perfect recall?"

"Hmmm." I rubbed my chin, pretending to seriously contemplate her words. "That is true. We could set up a handicap system, if you like?"

"I'll handicap _you_," Bella retorted and reached back into the box. She started to lift the next game and then froze, her brows shooting up.

"What?" I asked, my smile fading, not quite able to see the title on the colourful box she had in her hands. Surely my idiot brother wouldn't have included anything _too_ inappropriate...not if he valued his skin. He had to know he was already skating on the thinnest of ice.

Bella laughed and my hopes rose, but then the next board game that Emmett had provided for our amusement came into view...Twister.

Groaning, I tried to suppress the inappropriate thoughts and images that swamped my brain.

_Thanks, Emmett, _I thought wryly. It was difficult enough trying to keep my desire for Bella under control without that sort of provocation.

"I, er...don't think Twister is a very good idea," I mumbled, embarrassed at my apparently one-track mind.

"Why? Twister's fun and I might actually have a chance of winning." Bella sent me a sly look, and then fluttered her eyelashes at me. My mouth fell open, my brain temporarily stalling as images of my body becoming entangled with Bella's over a colourful plastic mat took up all my available mental capabilities...which was saying something for a vampire.

"Another time?" she offered when I didn't respond, pouting her lips and giving me a wide-eyed stare. I nodded dumbly, disconcerted and beguiled by this flirtatious side of Bella. At least she didn't seem sad or angry...for the moment.

When she reached for the next game, my brain finally unfroze, and I realized I needed to get that damn box out of the room...fast. Who knew what else my imbecile brother had included to torture me? Diving for the box, I snatched it off the bed and out of her reach.

"Oh come on!" She laughed, dancing around me. "I want to see what else is in there."

"Uh, huh," I scolded, shaking my head and mimicking Bella's teasing tone. Holding the box high above my head, I twisted and turned to keep it out of her reach. Bella laughed, the sound actually _better _than music to my ears, my relief at her lift in mood putting a wide grin on my face. I had to admit, Twister was pretty funny, and potentially very sexy, well...at least in _my _mind.

Bella stepped back when it was obvious she wasn't going to be able to reach the box without resorting to more extreme measures. Her hands fisted on her hips and she pouted...again.

"I could _force _you to give it to me," she threatened and I laughed aloud.

"I'm awfully fast," I smirked, loving this playful side to Bella.

One of her eyebrows rose in a perfect arch, her tongue peeked out of her mouth and left a glistening trail as she licked her lips, and then a corner of her mouth lifted in a sultry smile. She sauntered slowly toward me, and I backed away until I hit the wall, my smile fading.

"_I'm _awfully strong," she whispered huskily, only stopping when her body brushed lightly against my own. I swallowed hard.

Playtime was over.

With my arms stretched above my head and my back to the wall, I was at her mercy. Her fingers began a slow, deliberate walk up my chest, and I gasped as electric tingles generated by her touch radiated out to encompass my entire body. When her fingers reached the top button on my shirt, she hesitated and looked up at me through her long, dark lashes.

I held my breath, wondering what she was going to do next. Would she rip the shirt from my body...again? Did I mind if she did?

Of course, I would, I reminded myself. I'd promised to help Bella take things slowly, and besides, I wanted us to take the time to really get to know one another, to cement our relationship even if we _were_ destined to be together...I hoped.

Her eyes dropped and she seemed to be studying the light dusting of hair that was revealed by the V of my shirt. Then she ran her fingers lightly over my chest and I froze in place, an oddly posed statue.

"Um...Bella?" I whispered hoarsely, but she ignored me, leaned forward, and touched her lips to the indentation at the base of my throat. A groan rumbled up from my belly and escaped my lips, and I felt her smile against my skin.

She was enjoying this, which was a good thing...and it was keeping her distracted. I justified allowing things to continue even as my body responded the only way it seemed to know how when Bella touched me like this...with passionate fervour. For someone who hadn't experienced sexual arousal up until a week ago, I was certainly becoming well acquainted with the highly intense feelings of pleasure that it engendered...pleasure that could almost border on pain.

"Bella," I whispered again when her lips continued to brush against my highly sensitised skin, but this time I wasn't sure if I was entreating her to stop...or to continue.

She didn't stop.

Her lips took ownership of the skin her fingers had claimed as she kissed her way up my chest, nibbling a delicious path across my collarbone. Reaching up, she wrapped one hand around the back of my neck and pulled herself higher, her mouth kissing a trail up my neck and along my jaw-line. I wasn't sure of her destination, but my _extremely _aroused body didn't particularly care.

When her lips reached the corner of my mouth, I groaned, long and low, my arousal straining hard against the fabric of my trousers. It was a good thing the material was good quality...and strong. It wasn't something I'd ever had to take into consideration before, but I knew my brothers..._and _Carlisle, found flimsy modern fabrics could be a problem. I would be taking new factors into account when I went clothes shopping from now on.

When Bella pressed her body fully against me, the state of my clothing was instantly forgotten. My erection, however, was not. It was trapped between us, straining against her as if the damn thing had a life of its own...which it did, in a way.

We both gasped in a breath, and she pulled back a fraction, moving her lower body a little away from mine. I hoped I hadn't shocked or offended her too badly and thought that would be the end of our…encounter. It should have been as I was supposed to be helping her control her newborn impulses. But she licked her lips, her mouth a breath away from my own, and our eyes met for a moment. I couldn't seem to move, and when her eyelids fluttered closed, and she pressed her lips to my eager, waiting mouth...I was lost.

"Bella," I moaned against her questing lips, my vocabulary reduced to just the one word...her name. Letting my arms drop, I lowered the box behind her, carefully encircling her, while responding to her passionate kisses with considerable passion of my own.

Oh, how I wanted her! I wanted to consume and devour and worship every single inch of her...but I also wanted to cherish and care for and _love _her as well.

I let the kiss continue for long, luscious, sensual moments, wishing I could wrap my arms around her and explore the contours of her body...but wistfully grateful my hands were occupied and keeping my responses _somewhat_ restrained. While Bella was clearly enjoying being thoroughly kissed, she hadn't lost complete control—I wouldn't be standing and clothed if she had—which showed amazing self-control for a newborn. And reminded me _why _I needed to show some restraint.

Carefully, tenderly, I slowed our kisses until our mouths were barely touching, our breaths mingling as we brushed our lips gently against one another's.

"Sweetheart?" I whispered eventually, my voice barely audible. "Now really isn't the right time," I murmured with clear and heartfelt regret. When I thought of how long it would be until it _was _the right time, I wanted to weep.

I wasn't sure if Bella had heard me, but then she sighed and dropped back down onto her heels, her head falling against my shoulder. I was worried she'd be upset or embarrassed by her—_our—_actions, when she had absolutely no need to be. She _hadn't _lost control, which was amazing and probably more than I could say for myself. I wanted to hold her, to comfort and caress her, but my hands were occupied. Just when I was tempted to toss the box aside, the contents be damned, she leaned back to look me in the face. The action caused her to brush lightly against my groin, but I did my best to hide my reaction. From Bella's shy but knowing look, I think she was very much aware of the effect she had on me...and was thoroughly enjoying the knowledge.

I smiled ruefully in return.

"I surrender," I admitted, my voice little more than a croak. "We'll see what's left in the box." I knew when to admit defeat, but held onto the vain hope that the rest of the items Emmett had packed into the box would provide the possibility of less, er..._stimulating_ distractions.

Bella's smile turned smug, and she turned within the circle of my embrace, removed the box from my still-outstretched arms and walked over to place it on the bed. The fact that her hips wiggled most decisively as she walked was an added torture...and bonus.

After a short pause, she removed the next item from the box and raised it above her head for me to see. I couldn't actually move—_yet_—so when a deck of playing cards came into view, I breathed a sigh of relief.

It was premature.

A little booklet _also _came into view as she waved it in the air with her other hand.

"I didn't realize there was an official rulebook for playing Strip Poker," she said sweetly, looking at me over her shoulder in a highly coquettish manner.

It was slowly dawning on me that this girl was going to give me an incredible run for my money. I grinned back at her, but then her words registered and a growl burst from my chest. The graphic images that flooded my mind, no doubt partially fuelled by Tanya's vivid imagining of a _naked _Bella stored in my memory, almost broke my resolve.

"Okay, that's enough," I muttered gruffly, crossing the room in a flash and reaching around her for the box.

"Hey...it's funny," she cajoled, twisting out of my reach, but in a way that managed to rub her body against mine, her actions deliberate...and making my desperate attempt to bring our combined lust under some sort of control that much more difficult.

"I'd still like to check out the rest," she said, biting on her lip. "Aren't you just a _teensy_ bit curious?"

While one part of me was secretly ecstatic at Bella's teasing and incredibly sensual response to the potentially risqué games—it augured _very _well for the future—another part of me was counting down the seconds until I could get my hands around my brother's throat so that I could throttle the life out of him. It would be a futile exercise...but gratifying.

When Bella removed an adult board game, one Jasper and Alice had bought for a laugh then proceeded to use to spice up their _already_ spicy love-life, my joy dissipated. Her shocked expression told me it was _too _much...the final straw. At least, I thought it was, but I should have known better. Emmett's parting gift to Bella and me to help keep us distracted while our _memorial _service was being held was a book that Rosalie had brought him as a joke for Valentine's Day...Sex for Dummies. I stared at it, stunned, then looked up to see Bella's equally stunned expression.

It was decided. My brother was going to die a slow, painful, and permanent death_._

"Maybe we could tag team him," Bella murmured, her eyes wide. "Emmett," she explained at my blank look. "I could hold his arms while you beat the daylights out of him."

A laugh erupted from my lips, and I tried to stifle it but thankfully Bella joined me. Relief swamped my senses that she was able to see the funny side of my brother's crude attempts at humour. Which didn't mean he wasn't going to pay...dearly.

"It's a date," I said with feeling as we grinned at one another, the offending book tossed back in the box.

"Okay...maybe not games, then." Bella's smile turned rueful, and she shifted the box and its contents to the floor. When she sat on the bed and patted the space beside her, I hesitated. I'd barely survived our make-out session against the wall, and with the way things had been going, sitting together on the bed seemed like a recipe for disaster. Not that I didn't _want _to continue where we'd left off, but even more, I wanted to court Bella, to honour and respect her and ultimately win her heart.

"I thought we could talk," she offered shyly, her teeth chewing on the edge of her lip in that way I found so distracting. "_Just _talk," she murmured, her voice fading as her eyes dropped from mine in obvious embarrassment.

"Sure...talk," I said more loudly than I'd intended, sitting just close enough for our thighs to touch. Bella reached to grasp my hand, carefully threading our fingers together, and we both sighed.

"Tell me about your brothers," she said eventually, looking up at me through her dark lashes. "Has Emmett always been like this? Actually...tell me everything. You know so much about me, but I don't know that much about you or your family."

My eyes widened in surprise. I had spent three entire days telling her everything there was to tell.

"I don't remember that much from the fire," she murmured perceptively. "There are fragments...bits and pieces really. I'd like you to fill in the gaps."

The time passed easily as I answered her many questions about what I could remember of my human life, my early years as a vampire, the family's ages and histories, our collective college experiences, my hobbies...There was a lot to tell.

"I'd love to hear you play someday," she admitted shyly, and I added 'piano recital' to the growing list of ideas I had for things to do on our dates. Finding ways to keep us occupied was going to be essential if I had any hope of keeping my promise to take things slowly.

The way Bella played with my fingers, linking our hands together over and over while caressing my super-sensitised flesh...and the way she maintained continuous contact between us at as many points as possible, whether it was our thighs pressing together, her foot rubbing against my ankle, or her head resting on my shoulder...I had no doubt she was my mate, just as I was hers. The attraction between us was electric, irresistible. Whether she _loved_ me the way I loved her? I knew that was too much to expect considering the tumultuous beginning to our relationship and the hurdles we had yet to cross. But it was a start, and my confidence and hope for the future were greater than they had been at any time in my entire existence.

That confidence faded a little when Bella's hand lifted toward her throat for the third time since I'd started talking, the thirst becoming harder for her to ignore.

"It shouldn't be _too_ much longer," I offered, while knowing it was actually likely to be some time. There was an afternoon tea after the service and the family planned to stay for a while. It was the _human_ thing to do.

Bella ducked her head against my shoulder, and I rubbed her arm.

"I know, I can hold on, it's just..." She sighed and looked up at me. "It's not _just_ the thirst, though it really is awful. There's so much else to try and adjust to, as well, and my emotions are all over the place. One minute I'm literally trying to tear someone's head off...well, maybe not literally or I probably would have done it! The next I'm beside myself with sadness, then I get distracted and all I can think about is...you know," she waved her hand between us then ducked her head, embarrassed.

"Your moods will become more stable with time," I offered, hoping she didn't question my _own _lack of self-control. I wasn't sure that telling her it was only where she was concerned would be reassuring. "The newborn phase doesn't last forever."

"At least a year!" she retorted. "And even if I was still human I don't think the sadness would go away in a hurry. I mean...not that it should. I've just lost everyone I care about...my entire family."

I sighed, remembering how it felt when I awoke to learn that I'd been turned into a vampire and that my parents were dead. If they'd still been alive—if I could have seen them and talked to them—I'm not sure what I would have done.

Hoping to find some way to help, I rifled through the memories of the psychology classes I'd attended during my various college sojourns. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' 'Stages of Grief' still seemed relevant, despite having been formulated in the sixties. Bella had been vacillating between denial, anger and bargaining for the last couple of days, but I could see depression looming. Acceptance was no doubt a long way off.

"I remember Carlisle urging me to take things one step at a time," I offered tentatively. I was hardly the expert on dealing with unpleasant emotions, having spent a good part of the last eight decades trapped between anger and denial. "Distractions can be helpful, but I've learned that it's crucial to give yourself time to think about your losses. Suppressing the grief doesn't work...it just spills out all over the place, usually in the form of anger and never at an opportune time. Talking about your feelings is important."

Bella sighed. I wasn't sure how comfortable she was with sharing her feelings and hoped she would come to trust me enough to open up one day. Not knowing what she was thinking was...challenging.

"Do you know where the memorial is being held?" she asked in a small voice while studying our joined hands.

"At the Town Hall. The authorities wanted to use the school gymnasium to cater for the crowd they expected but..." I shrugged.

"Was it destroyed too?" She looked up, wide-eyed.

"No. Only the science block and cafeteria, though most of the other buildings sustained at least minor structural and smoke damage."

"Oh..." She grimaced, shaking her head. "How's the town going to pay to fix the damage...and what's everyone doing about school?"

"The students are being bussed to nearby towns, and Carlisle has arranged to pay for the rebuilding and refurbishment of the entire school," I explained.

Bella's eyes snapped to my face. "Won't that advertise your guilt?"

"Carlisle sold the idea as a way for the family to remember my life...a memorial. The school board is too grateful to look for ulterior motives." I doubted the Quileutes would view our actions quite so magnanimously but chose not to mention that likelihood.

Bella frowned then sat forward and turned to me with a startled expression. "This will have been all over the news!"

I nodded warily and she bolted off the bed, grabbed the as yet unused laptop, and returned before I had time to blink.

She was right. News crews from all the major networks had descended on the town the day after the..._incident. _A high school being destroyed by explosions and fires in broad daylight, with two students 'killed' and multiple injuries, had captured the attention of the nation...and the world. Fear that the catastrophe may have been due to a terrorist attack, despite the fact that Forks was a mere blip on the map, had originally fuelled a lot of the interest. Fortunately, Alice and Jasper had done an excellent job of covering their tracks, leading investigators to quickly rule out foul-play. But the news crews had remained, the memorial providing a hungry public with an emotional finale to the tragedy that had been milked for all it was worth.

Firing up the laptop, Bella muttered and grumbled, frustrated by the slowness of the connection. I didn't think telling her that this particular computer's technology was the most advanced available would have gone over well.

"Gentle...slow..." I admonished when the screens came to life, restraining Bella from pounding the keys too hard and fast or the relatively flimsy machine would be destroyed within seconds.

"Okay, okay," she continued to grumble until the news items she was searching for finally appeared. Shocked, she sat back as the images of the burning school, injured students, terrified parents and frantic emergency services workers came to life before us. Then a moan of anguish tore from her lips as a picture of her father—directing the rescue effort and clearly desperate to find his daughter—filled the screen.

To my intense chagrin, the images triggered a very different response in me. Venom pooled in my mouth as I remembered the bliss of drinking Bella's blood. Hell, the monster inside me didn't just recall the euphoria of the attack, it _savoured_ the taste and scent of her blood with perfect recall.

The urge to flee from my shame and Bella's perfectly justifiable grief was overwhelming...but I resisted, clamping down on my cowardly impulses and locking every muscle in place.

"Oh, God..." Bella whispered as image after image filled the screen. She clicked on the video links, and footage from the memorial and the previous week filled our little hideaway, bringing the outside world into our midst.

Her father, stoic but showing the strain of the previous week, walked past the crowd and into the hall supported by his Quileute friends and fellow officers. Then the cameras turned to Bella's mother, Renee, on the arm of her husband, looking bewildered by the cameras and broken in her grief.

Bella started to cry and I lifted her onto my lap, cradling her in my arms. She sobbed against my shoulder, but without the benefit of tears to blur her vision, continued to watch the distressing footage unimpeded.

Her friend Jacob appeared on the screen, his impressive size making him appear older than his years. He seemed more angry than mournful, the fury vibrating off him in waves as Sam Uley and the other members of the pack surrounded him protectively.

My family came next, looking completely out of place and 'otherworldly' despite their efforts to blend in. It just wasn't normal to have that many perfect looking individuals together at one time...outside of Hollywood. The camera crews rushed to interview them, but only Carlisle spoke...just a few words of thanks for the support the family had received and a request for privacy. The others kept their faces averted as much as possible.

We'd considered whether some of the group should wear contacts, as the oddly consistent and strangely coloured eyes of our group could be an issue. In the end, Eleazar and Carmen had decided to suffer the contacts as golden eyes stood out the most against their skin tone, but the rest of the group had opted for large hats for the women and sunglasses for the men. It wasn't the most effective method of camouflage we'd ever employed but would hopefully suffice.

After the family had entered the building, there was a lull and the news clips rotated through various interviews from the week preceding...mostly townsfolk who remembered Bella from her summers spent visiting her father and teachers from Forks High lamenting the loss of my musical talent and intellect. I suppressed a snort, not wanting to appear dismissive of Bella's very understandable pain despite my feelings of indifference regarding my inability to finish high school...this time around.

Some students who'd created a floral tribute near the school and spent time milling there in the evenings, trying to make sense of the traumatic events, were also interviewed. They had little of consequence to report, mostly their personal experiences of fleeing the explosions in fear for their lives, but then Lauren Mallory appeared on the screen, dressed in a skimpy black dress and weeping copious tears.

"Edward Cullen was my boyfriend and I miss him so much," she wailed into the microphones that were quickly thrust in front of her heavily made up face. "We were in love and were going to be together forever."

I blinked at her words, stunned.

"Edward?" Bella tensed beside me, her brow creasing with a frown. "Why didn't you tell me about her?"

"Because there's nothing to tell," I ground out between my teeth, my surprise turning to anger.

"But why would she say that if it wasn't true?" she demanded, turning to face me, the laptop momentarily forgotten.

I knew exactly why. Lauren Mallory was an insecure girl who would stop at nothing to increase her social standing, but my sympathy for her troubled home-life and low self-esteem was currently non-existent.

I turned to Bella and brought my hands up to cup her face. "It's lies, all of it. There's only you. No one else...ever."

Bella studied me, her expression troubled. Then she let her head fall against my chest, her eyes drifting back to the screen. I was looking forward to the day when her insecurities were banished, I'd _proved_ myself, and she could laugh off the preposterous idea that I would ever have eyes for another.

The camera crews were granted access to the service once everyone was inside, and we watched a montage of events: music playing, photos and floral tributes, friends, family, and townspeople...grieving.

A brief snippet of Jasper delivering a moving but fabricated eulogy to my life was followed by the heartfelt words spoken about Bella by her friend, Jacob Black. His genuine distress and the love he clearly felt for _my _mate darkened my mood, but I had little time to brood. After a short word from a local minister, the TV reporter returned to rehashing the events of the fire, and Bella turned off the laptop. Nestling into my arms, she was no doubt contemplating all the things she'd just seen and heard.

For the umpteenth time I considered the irony of the situation, that Bella would look to _me_—the one responsible for the 'mess,' as she'd called it—for comfort. I might not deserve the privilege, but I couldn't deny my relief that she continued to turn _to _me in her distress and not away.

_~OB~_

_**Bit of fun...bit of angst...even a bit of a flirty 'lime'...but action ahead, I promise!**_

_**Thanks for reading and reviewing.**_

_**xxx TLS **_

_**PS: Any suggestions for Emmett's imminent punishment?**_


	19. Intruder

_**My heartfelt thanks to Stephenie Meyer for creating a**__** world that takes us away from our troubles and into the land of imagination, fantasy and romance...and for sharing it with us.**_

_**Thanks to my Betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, and to my prereaders Content1 and hotwardfangirl. You guys are the best, and I so appreciate your helping me with this story. **_

_**I forgot to mention one of my lovely reviewers last week, DarkChubb, who gave Once Bitten its '400**__**th**__**' review. Thank you! Happy Dancing definitely occurred. **_

_**Thanks to all my readers and reviewers for your kindness, encouragement, and incredibly funny comments. No...I won't be burning Emmett at the stake, but you've given me some great ideas for his 'punishment' and a lot of laughs.**_

_**Updated: Saturday September 10**__**th**__** 2011  
>Words: 4308<strong>_

_~OB~_

_For the umpteenth time I considered the irony of the situation, that Bella would look to me—the one responsible for the 'mess,' as she'd called it—for comfort. I might not deserve the privilege, but I couldn't deny my relief that she continued to turn to me in her distress and not away._

Chapter 19

Intruder

EPOV

My relief was short-lived.

_Damn that smell is disgusting, and it burns my nose...like sniffing bleach!_

Every muscle in my body tensed, and an involuntary growl escaped my throat.

"What?" Bella turned to me in alarm. I motioned her to silence and closed my eyes to better concentrate on the mental voice of the intruder.

_Can't believe I let Jacob __talk me into this. He better keep his promise and put in a good word for me with his dad, 'cos Sam's gonna be real pissed when he finds out I've been snooping around on some fool hunch. Bella's dead...and the sooner Jake accepts it, the better. You'd think he'd imprinted on her the way he's carrying on._ _Don't know what he expects me to find anyway. How the hell am I supposed to pick out individual scents amongst all this stink? Sheesh. Sam and Jacob are the ones with the 'Alpha noses'...These stinkin' bloodsuckers are all the same brand of putrid if you ask me. _

I closed in on the lone intruder's mind—Paul, a member of the wolf pack—and began looking through his eyes. He was talking to himself, here on behalf of Jacob Black _without_ his Alpha's approval. I wasn't sure what implications that had in regards to the treaty. Technically, the wolves weren't forbidden from crossing onto _our_ land like we were onto theirs, but they normally kept their distance. Paul had to know we'd pick his scent out in an instant, and I wondered what excuse he planned on making to justify the intrusion...that's _if _he'd thought ahead that far. He didn't seem particularly bright.

Tuned into his thoughts, I listened as he continued to grumble and complain.

_I can't believe I'm missing out on the grub, __but I guess Jake was right about now being the only time to do this with all the vamps at the funeral. Bit weird if you ask me...grieving for someone who's been dead for a hundred years. Even weirder that the bloodsucker didn't manage to escape the fire since they're so frickin' fast! They _said_ he got trapped and then the flames took hold, but I don't know...Can't really blame Jake for being suspicious. _

My hackles rose and the rumbling in my chest became a continuous growl.

"Edward, please...tell me what's going on!" Bella demanded, tugging on my arm.

"One of the wolves is outside, sniffing around...Paul. I'm listening to his thoughts, but I need to concentrate," I explained, my tone gruff. Bella went to pull out of my arms, but I held tight, giving her an apologetic look even as I returned my focus to the wolf snooping around outside our home. I wanted nothing more than to go outside and teach him a lesson in manners.

_Geez...I can't make head nor tail __of all this stink. What a pity they don't smell this way to ordinary folk, then they wouldn't think they were so damned pretty! Huh! Good-looking but damned is right...filthy bloodsuckers._

Paul pictured my beautiful sisters, his thoughts far from flattering, and _I _pictured ripping him apart with my bare hands.

_Oh yeah...now I'm picking up the individual scents. Hell...how many of them are there? I know they've got 'friends' visiting, but Sam's not gonna be pleased about this. Just what we need, with Jacob practically out of his mind__...a freakin' vampire convention on our doorsteps. There won't be any wildlife left by the time they're finished...but as long as they don't go after any humans, I don't suppose there's much we can do about them._

I could see through the wolf's eyes that he was approaching the area where Bella had hunted the night before, and my senses went on full alert. Rising from the bed with Bella by my side, I focused all my attention on the beast's thoughts.

_Hmmm, deer...strange that it would have ventured so close to the house, unless one of them dragged it back here for a bit of alfresco. Must be a pain not being able to eat in your own home. Bit of a messy feeder for a vamp by all the blood that was wasted. They don't normally leave any behind...disgusting blood drinkers._

I didn't like the direction of Paul's thoughts, and when he sniffed his way over to the place where Bella and I had..._kissed_, I hoped he wouldn't understand the various scents.

_Whoah! Vampire pheromones...and right out in the open! Sheesh, these bastards really are sick. Might be fun to watch a couple of 'em at it one time, though they move that fast it's probably all over before you know it. _

His mental laugh was almost my undoing. Snarling, I crouched into a defensive stance, forcing Bella behind me and away from the hidden door even though I knew the intruder could neither hear nor find us.

"Should we go out there?" Bella asked, and I spun around to face her.

"No!" I shouted. "The wolves can't see you, Bella..._ever!"_

"Don't you mean..._us?_" she asked frowning.

"I can take care of myself, but I won't risk you!" I snarled.

Bella rolled her eyes at me. "I think you're forgetting something, Edward. I happen to be _stronger_ than you at the moment, and besides, the Quileutes are my friends. Paul's a bit of an idiot, but he wouldn't hurt me, and it might help if I could explain that I'm okay...basically."

I froze in place as my mind scrambled to find the words that would secure her compliance without adding to her grief. Once we got Bella safely out of the area, there would be no need for her to know that her previous friendship with the wolves would count for nothing if they ever learned of her existence. They wouldn't see the Bella they'd known and cared for, but a newborn...the _ultimate_ threat.

"It's not safe. They would know we've broken the treaty—that _I _broke the treaty—and have every right to go to war against the family. There could be lives lost...on both sides."

Bella's eyes widened in alarm. "Then what should we do?"

"Nothing. We just need to sit tight and wait for him to leave. He doesn't know we're here and I doubt he will go so far as to try and enter the house...he's just snooping around the grounds, checking out the various scents."

"But, Edward, you were outside last night when I fed. We didn't disguise your scent! What if he recognizes you?"

He hadn't so far, but the thought had crossed my mind. It was an unforgiveable oversight. While I was fairly certain neither Sam nor Jacob would be able to recognize my scent from Paul's thoughts, we could still have some fast talking to do to allay their suspicions. No matter what, we'd be looking at damage-control as soon as the others returned.

Fortunately we didn't have long to wait. Paul left not long before the families arrived home, his scent whipping them into a frenzy of concern. Jasper met Bella and I on the stairs leading up from the basement, and I quickly brought him up to date.

"I can't believe I didn't think of this," my brother and friend berated himself. "I should have seen the possibility of their sending a recon team—or individual—but I didn't think they'd venture so close to the house. I've gotten so used to Alice telling us what's going to happen ahead of time..." He shook his head, running a hand roughly through his hair. "The memorial was a nightmare, with Alice's vision blocked entirely. There's no doubt in my mind that the wolves are to blame for the 'black spots' she's been experiencing. Hell, we're talking total black-out!"

I could hear Alice going over the events of the day in her mind—blaming herself—as we ascended the stairs and joined her and the others in the living room.

"It's not your fault," I murmured, forestalling her apology and drawing my little sister to my Bella-free side for a reassuring embrace. "We've been relying on you for so long that we've become complacent in ways we hadn't even realized."

_Thanks, Edward, _she thought, giving me a strained smile. "But...I'm really worried. I have no idea what's going to happen or how things will turn out."

"Are you saying you can't see_ anything_?" Carlisle asked, his tone concerned but gentle.

Alice shrugged, then pulled away to lean against Jasper. Taking a deep breath, she let her vision _blur_ and the future—or at least, those parts that were available to her—opened up. The family and Forks was shrouded in darkness, while the future of those connected to us but living away from the area, was still accessible. She was searching e_verything... everywhere... _the speed of the visions increasing to a point where I could barely keep up with what she was seeing, no doubt missing a great many details. I wasn't worried, knowing from experience that I would get to see the relevant images again when she recounted them more slowly, though sometimes I worried that crucial elements were missed from the visions Alice chose to disregard.

"What's she seeing? Bella whispered, reaching up on the tip of her toes to speak close to my ear. I smiled, loving the way she'd kept a few of her human mannerisms_._ Most newborn vampires alternated between long periods of statue-like immobility and rapid, virtually invisible to the human eye, blurs of movement—attributes highly beneficial for a predator. While Bella naturally struggled to move at human speed, she had not lost her propensity to fidget, and unlike most vampires, would not have to 'relearn' her human mannerisms to blend in. I wasn't sure why this had occurred but found it achingly endearing.

Jasper cleared his throat and I gave my head a shake, refocusing on Bella's question. "Everything close to home is a blur to Alice, but she's picking up 'signals,' if you like, from further away," I explained patiently.

"Spit it out, Edward," Rosalie muttered. "_What _signals?"

Sighing, I turned to face the rest of the family. They were used to having me report Alice's visions even as she was receiving them.

"She's seeing Tanya running in the snow...Alaska, I'm guessing. Irina is with her..." I turned to my northern friend, even as Alice continued to search the future, Jasper supporting her in the circle of his arms.

"You've decided to go after her?" I asked.

Irina nodded. "I know she's done the wrong thing, but she's still my sister...and I'm worried about her."

Kate stepped to her side to take Irina's hand, murmuring reassurances.

"Can you tell where she's gone, Edward?" Carmen queried, worry for her friend written plainly on her face. "I mean...you don't have to tell us if you don't want to...after what she did to you."

I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders, even as I felt Bella stiffen beside me. "No...It's all right. She's your family; of course you want to take care of her."

"But is it safe?" Esme queried turning to Irina. "What if she uses her talent against you?"

A murmur of disquiet filled the room where the couples stood facing each other in a rough circle. The realization caught me momentarily off guard. I was a part of a couple now, with Bella firmly ensconced beside me, my arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder and her hand resting against my stomach. For the first time..._ever..._I wasn't the lone individual in our family group. Joy exploded in my chest and with it the generosity I needed to be able to reassure my Denali family and _defend _Tanya...to an extent.

"I haven't had the chance to tell you this yet, but Tanya's feelings for you—and yours for her—are genuine," I addressed the remaining Denalis, unsurprised by their sighs of relief at my disclosure. "She rarely used her talent against any of you, other than to hide her ability from Eleazar. It was, er..._me_ she was fixated on."

"I don't think it's easy for her to use her ability, and certainly not for long periods of time," Jasper added, confirming the conclusion I'd reached over the years. "Edward is right in that she does care about you all...deeply."

I felt a silent growl rumble in Bella's chest and patted her arm reassuringly.

"That doesn't make what she did any more acceptable," Rosalie interjected, and Bella released a calming breath.

"No, it doesn't." Eleazar nodded solemnly and looked at me directly. "We'd like to apologize to you, Edward, on behalf of our sister...and ourselves. In hindsight, it is clear that your feelings were poorly treated by us all and your wishes disregarded."

I opened my mouth to speak but he forestalled my dismissal of his apology.

"While we appreciate that we were not..._able _to see things clearly due to Tanya's influence, we nonetheless want you to know that you have our heartfelt apology and appreciate the gracious way you have responded throughout what must have been an extremely distressing ordeal."

Emmett snorted and Rosalie elbowed him sharply in the ribs. I shot him a glare and then saw that Bella was doing the same.

He grinned back at us. _Ooo...bring it on! Two on one...I'm scared!_ He thought and I ducked my head to hide a smirk. He should be. Emmett was going down; he just didn't know it yet.

I thanked Eleazar, reassuring his family and mine that I was fine.

_More than fine, I think, son, _Carlisle added, a satisfied smile on his face at the sight of Bella and I firmly together.

I gave a quick nod in his direction, knowing there would be much for us to talk about when the time was right...and if he could ever drag me away from Bella's side.

"What about the Volturi?" Jasper asked. "Has Alice seen anything to do with them?"

As he spoke, Alice's vision slowed enough for me to see that the snow fields of northern Alaska had transformed into golden fields of wheat surrounding an ancient stone city...Volterra. She gave her head a little shake, returning to the present.

"I'll explain, Edward," she offered as my mind worked to interpret the images she was rapidly filtering.

"Aro knows what's happened," she admitted, which was hardly surprising with the news coverage of the fire and its aftermath. "He's monitoring events closely and trying to decide whether to send a scouting party to investigate further."

Intakes of breath and a murmur of concern met Alice's disclosure, but no one interrupted.

"I think the only reason he hasn't yet is that he's taken aback by our numbers. He hadn't realized your coven had grown so large, Carlisle. With the Denalis backing us, our two families make the largest vampire alliance outside of Volterra."

"But we're not a threat to his authority." Esme's voice was filled with concern, and Carlisle drew her even closer against his side.

"He doesn't know that," Jasper drawled, his accent becoming more pronounced as he mentally revisited his military training and experience. "He'll send that scouting party to be on the safe side. It makes sense. It's what _I'd _do."

"Then what should _we_ do...to prepare?" Carlisle asked, his expression reflecting the seriousness of the situation and mirroring all our concerns.

"Keep a low profile and Bella hidden." Jasper shot her a sympathetic look. "They can't find about Bella's talent…or ours either." He gestured, indicating himself, Alice and I. "I think Alice is right in that any major changes, like moving location straight away, may be perceived as a threat...or at least worthy of greater investigation. I doubt the scouting party will approach us directly, but even if they do it shouldn't be too difficult to show them what they need to see…the family going about business as usual."

"We don't keep Edward's survival a secret?" Esme asked, and I answered for Jasper.

"They won't buy the story of my perishing in the fire; they'll see it for what it was…a cover-up."

Carlisle nodded, his expression pained. "The loss of Bella's life is not an issue for the Volturi, only whether or not we managed to contain the story and hide the truth of Edward's attack. The less we try to deceive them the better."

"Deception is _only_ possible as long as Aro stays away," Eleazar added dryly.

"Why is that?" Bella asked ingenuously, triggering another bout of murmuring.

"Because while Edward can read the thoughts of everyone within his range…except for you, of course," Carlisle explained. "Aro can read every thought a person has ever had, but he has to be _touching_ the person for his talent to work."

"Oh..." Bella murmured wide eyed, her arm squeezing my waist as she huddled into my side. I stroked her shoulder reassuringly, _hating_ the added stress she was being forced to endure.

"Can you see _anything_ that will indicate how things will eventuate?" Carlisle asked, turning to Alice.

Alice shrugged despondently. "I can't see close to home because of the wolves."

"What about in the future, after we've _left_ Forks?" I was not asking for myself, as I didn't see Alice's talent quite the way the others did but knew her words would give them some reassurance. Being privy to Alice's visions, I was aware of the multitude of variables and decisions that preceded each outcome. When it came to events close at hand—once decisions had been made and were about to be acted upon—she was virtually infallible. But the further into the future she attempted to see and the greater the number of individuals involved in the outcome, the less reliable her predictions became.

Alice's eyes lost focus again, and I concentrated on following the images that began to flood her mind. There were just as many potentially negative outcomes as positive, indicative of the decisions still to be made and the numerous factors, but she fixed on a particularly encouraging scene. I tried not to be too disheartened by the more catastrophic outcomes she'd skimmed over—knowing they were no more guaranteed to occur than the happier endings—and allowed myself to be caught up in the picture she envisioned.

"We'll be together in Paris in the springtime," she announced, smiling radiantly and her voice filled with relief.

"Paris?" Bella whispered hoarsely.

"Cool...when?" Rosalie asked the pertinent question.

Alice shrugged and began the process of deduction we'd used many times to make sense of her visions.

"We're all dressed in the latest fashions, of course," she mused. "But the clothes aren't _on_ _trend_, so I'd say it's unlikely to be next spring, probably the one after."

"How short are the skirts?" Emmett, predictable as ever, asked the question he always did.

_Shorter...shorter...shorter__…_he chanted in his thoughts.

I sighed, then Alice 'fine-tuned' the vision, and I saw an image of the family—Bella and I _included_—walking hand in hand in our couples along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, not far from the Arc de Triomphe. While it was encouraging to see the eight of us together, my concentration was focused on the image of Bella smiling up at me. Her eyes were golden, one shoulder revealed by the loose floral blouse she wore and her legs exposed beneath a _very s_hort pair of hotpants. To cap off the stunning image, I could just make out the glint of diamonds on the ring finger of her left hand. _My mother's wedding ring?_

I staggered sideways, and Bella grabbed hold of me to stop me from falling.

"Edward, what's wrong?" she demanded.

I had no idea how to answer. While I knew the vision was only _one_ possible future, I wanted it so badly my senses were temporarily overwhelmed.

"Awesome!" Emmett interpreted my reaction _somewhat _correctly—as the image of Bella's incredibly long and lovely legs had certainly had an impact on my, er…senses—and celebrated the prospective return of a fashion favourite of his.

"Edward?"" Bella persisted, and I shook my head to clear the alluring vision from my mind.

"Everything's going to be fine," I assured her.

"But...but..._Paris? _As in _France?" _

"Yes, Bella," Alice laughed and came over to give her a quick hug. "Paris, France, and you're going to _love _it...the art galleries, the scenery, the shopping. And _Edward _is going to love the fashions," she added in a sweet sounding but pointed aside. I rolled my eyes at her, doing my best to block the images she projected of Bella in various stunning but equally skimpy outfits. I needed to concentrate, and a man could only take so much.

"What about the wolves?" Emmett interjected, his jocular attitude of earlier supplanted with concern by the seriousness of the situation. His arms held Rosalie firmly and protectively at his side.

"We need to muddy the waters regarding the scents their scout detected," Jasper announced. "We shouldn't have any problem passing off Bella's scent as one of our visitors—it's different enough from how she smelled as a human—but we'll need to disguise Edward's scent whenever he leaves the house." He grimaced in my direction, but I wasn't worried, willing to endure whatever concoction he deemed necessary to keep Bella safe.

"I don't think the pack knows our individual scents, but to be on the safe side, we'll need to make sure Edward's scent is different enough to be passed off as a visiting vampire. The wolves haven't broken the treaty by coming on our land, though their scout's actions _could _be seen as an act of aggression. Regardless, _we_ must avoid provocation at all costs," Jasper concluded soberly.

"But the Quileutes—the _wolves—_are my friends." Bella's words caused a storm of mental reaction. "I know telling them about me would reveal that the treaty is broken, but I'm sure I could make them understand once they realized that I'm okay. I think they'd help us against the Volturi, if I asked them."

_Edward, you need to tell her she's every bit at risk from the wolves as the rest of us! _Jasper rebuked.

_You can't hide the danger from her, son. She needs to know what she's facing, _Carlisle agreed...but I didn't. They weren't the one's trying to hold her together when the grief threatened to tear her apart! She'd lost almost all connection to her past. Discovering that her lifelong friends were now her sworn enemies was the last thing she needed.

I shot a quick glare around the room, willing everyone to let _me_ handle the situation.

"The Volturi don't know about the wolves, Bella, and we need to keep it that way," I urged, looking her in the eye and using all my powers of persuasion. "They'll think they're werewolves, as we're fairly certain they don't know about shape-shifters. Caius, one of the three who leads alongside Aro, has a vendetta against werewolves and will demand the pack's destruction...and quite possibly that of the entire tribe."

_Nice save, bro, _Emmett complimented me with his thoughts. The others also agreed with my logic, though doubted the wisdom of only giving Bella part of the truth.

Bella gasped, her eyes going impossibly wide. "The Quileute tribe? Everybody?"

I nodded, and she sagged against me. As much as I hated upsetting her, I told myself it was better than risking her life...and the lives of her friends. My assessment of the potential danger to the Quileutes wasn't fabricated. From what Carlisle had told me, Caius was not _rational_ in his hatred of wolves. While I had no love for the dogs, especially the overgrown puppy who had feelings for my beloved, that didn't mean I wished him or his family ill. Well, maybe him...a little.

The conversation continued, but my focus had shifted to Bella's disconsolate form, huddled against my side.

"It's all right, sweetheart," I murmured, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Bella took a deep breath then leaned back a little to look me in the eye. "It's not me I'm worried about, but my friends and my family. I don't want those bad vampires coming anywhere near us. We have to keep them away from Forks!"

Carlisle's expression didn't flicker, but I caught his reaction to Bella's blanket assessment that the Volturi were 'bad.' He might not always agree with Aro's methods, but he firmly believed the world would be in a very poor state indeed if vampires _weren't_ policed in any way.

Personally, I didn't blame Bella for forming that opinion from what she'd been told. What I marvelled at was the depth of her compassion and her latent humanity_. _Even after all she'd been through—was still going through—her concern was not for herself, but others.

"I'll keep your family and the town safe...as well as your friends on the reservation," I assured her.

"We _all_ will," Carlisle added, and the others murmured their agreement and support.

Bella straightened her shoulders and took a moment to glance from couple to couple around the room. "I'm a part of this group now...one of you," she said hesitantly, but with determination. "And I'll do whatever I can to keep them safe, too. Just tell me how I can help."

I studied Bella's resolute expression, pride swelling in my chest at her incomparable strength of character and the beauty that went so much further than skin deep.

"Together, Bella...we'll do it together," I murmured, my voice hoarse as emotion tightened my throat.

She turned to me and smiled, echoing my words.

"Together," she whispered looking up into my eyes, her expression...dare I say…adoring? "But first, can I please hunt? This thirst is killing me!"

_~OB~_

_**Starting to make some progress, and warm gooeyness ahead. ;)**_

_**Thanks for reading. Reviews are very gratefully received!**_

_**xxx TLS**_


	20. Afterglow

_**My heartfelt thanks to Stephenie Meyer for her life changing saga. If it wasn't for SM we wouldn't have had this incredible week with the Breaking Dawn Part 1 trailer bringing so much joy and inducing happy dancing (and hot flushes) worldwide. Roll on November! **_

_**Thanks so much to my lovely betas and prereaders, Chloe Cougar, Squeaky Zorro, Content1, and hotwardfangirl, for all your help with Once Bitten.**_

_**Thanks also to my wonderful readers and reviewers. Not sure if you've noticed, but Once Bitten is only a few reviews shy of 500. Thank you all so much for helping me reach this amazing milestone. I love reading your comments and thoughts, and you all have such cool pen-names! Sigh...I really should have put a bit more thought into mine before I posted my first story. **_

_**Updated: Saturday, 17th September 2011  
>Words: 4759<strong>_

Chapter 20

Afterglow

BPOV

As much as I was desperate to quench my thirst, there were a few things I needed to know first.

"What happens if the wolves come around while I'm hunting?" I asked. I missed Jacob and would have loved to see him again, but the last thing I wanted was to be responsible for any harm coming to the Quileutes.

As one, the couples turned to Alice for the answer to my question.

"I don't know," she cried. "I can't see _anything _if the wolves are around!"

Edward's expression turned contemplative. "Maybe that's your answer. If your vision is blocked or patchy, then we can be fairly confident the wolves are involved in some way."

Alice nodded, her expression hopeful. "You could be right. Let me check." Her eyes lost focus, then a few seconds later she and Edward shared a grin. "All good to go," she declared, a satisfied look on her face.

"So...you don't see any, er..._problems_ this time? I asked timidly, not sure how to voice my other concerns.

"None whatsoever. I foresee a wolf-free hunt and a very pleasant evening all around."

With that pronouncement Jasper took charge, issuing a range of orders and sending the various couples scattering to obey. It wasn't hard to imagine him in the role of a military commander, as he seemed so confident and in control. But I was still worried. Chewing on my lower lip, I turned to Edward.

"What is it?" He picked up on my emotions so easily sometimes, I almost wondered if he was lying about not being able to read my thoughts. I certainly hoped he couldn't, considering the direction they'd been taking since I'd been turned into a vampire.

"Ummm..." I wasn't sure how to bring this up. "I need to hunt, but what about..._after_?"

"After?" Edward cocked his head to the side, his brow creasing in a way that drew my eyes, reinforcing the trouble that was looming...again. _He __was __just __so __damned __irresistible!_

Something in my expression must have given me away because his eyes darkened in colour.

"Oh..." he whispered, his voice becoming hoarse in the way that I was learning meant that _he _felt it, too.

"Yes_...'Oh,_'" I echoed. There were two distinct components to the hunt that I recalled with crystal clarity...the blood...and then the lust.

Edward stepped closer and pulled me into his arms. "Don't worry," he murmured. "Jasper's going to take care of it this time,"

"What?" I pushed back against Edward's chest, and he went flying backward before executing a mid-air flip and landing gracefully on his feet. I, on the other hand, ended up flattened against the far wall, narrowly missing a display cabinet filled with very expensive looking...stuff.

Feeling sheepish and more than a little bewildered, I met Edward in the middle of the room.

"Sorry," I muttered, _seriously _looking forward to gaining some control over my wayward new body. "But...Jasper? I just...no offence to your brother...but you don't really expect me to...?"

Edward frowned at my words, and then his eyes went very wide. "Hell, no!" he exclaimed, and then seemed a little shocked by his outburst. "Um...sorry. No, Bella. What I meant is that Jasper will draw off any, er...post-hunt emotions_."_

"Oh...okay," I mumbled. He was talking about the lust but obviously didn't want to say the word any more than I did.

"But then what?" I puzzled, not quite meeting Edward's eyes. "He'll just get rid of it somehow?" I shook my hands out, imagining Jasper draining the excess _emotions _away into the ground.

"Sort of," Alice piped up, bouncing back into the room, a folded shirt and a hair-tie in her hands. "It can take a while for the emotions Jasper absorbs to dissipate, so when they're _positive _feelings we just use them up." She smiled happily, and I stared at her perplexed.

"I...I don't get it?" I murmured.

Alice's smile widened and she leaned closer, whispering in a conspiratorial way. "Jasper and I will disappear into the forest for a little while...we won't be gone long, Edward, I promise," she muttered to him in an aside. "Then we'll use up all that lovely lust—thank you, Bella, very much—and return refreshed and ready to be of service."

When Alice finished speaking she winked at me, and I spun to face the door, annoyed that my cheeks weren't blazing. They _should _have been. I thought I'd experienced mortification before in my life, but I couldn't remember _ever _feeling so embarrassed.

"Alice, did you have to be so _blunt_?" Edward muttered, looking as uncomfortable as I felt.

Alice sighed and came to put her arm around my waist. "Sorry," she murmured. "I forget this is all new to you, but there are aspects to being a vampire that are..._different_ from being a human."

I snorted, feeling another bout of hysteria coming on.

"You mean, like the fact that I can't wait to be allowed outside so I can kill my _third _deer and drink its blood like I'm a heroin addict latching onto my latest fix? Or how the high I'll get from drinking the blood will actually pale into comparison with how I'll feel afterwards? But not to worry, I won't attack Edward _this __time _because his brother is going to psychically drain off my inappropriate emotions and then go off into the forest to use them up with his way-too-young looking wife. _That_ kind of different?" My tone dripped sarcasm, but I kept my expression carefully schooled, doing my best to stifle the giggles that were just beneath the surface.

"Hmmm...something like that," Alice agreed with a sly smile.

Edward groaned and I turned to see him attempting to yank out his hair.

"Hey, don't do that!" I cried, reaching up to pull his hands away from his head. I liked Edward's crazy, sexy, copper-tinted hair—_really _liked it—and while I was sure he'd be equally handsome bald, I wasn't willing to take the risk.

With our hands entwined again, I began to calm down and Edward's expression turned sheepish.

"I'm so sorry about all of this...insanity," he murmured, a rueful smile lifting the corner of his very kissable mouth.

"You mean the 'I'm a crazy newborn vampire' insanity, or the 'dealing with your family' insanity?"

"Hey!" Alice interjected but I ignored her, enjoying the incredibly cute way Edward cocked his head to the side as he contemplated my question.

"Both, I guess," he admitted.

"I don't mind your family, well...most of them." I shrugged. Emmett still had it coming for his incessant teasing, though I was secretly grateful to him for providing the Sex for Dummies book. I'd managed to hide it away in a drawer before Edward and I left the hidden room, but I was determined to take a look...when I plucked up the courage. All I knew about sex came from the 'talk_'_ I'd received from Renee when I was nine and the obligatory but fairly vague sex-ed classes at school, the bits and pieces I'd picked up from books and movies over the years, and what I'd overheard from some of the more, er..._adventurous _girls at school. Edward might be a virgin like me—I smiled at the thought—but he had several lifetimes' worth of knowledge on the subject gleaned from all the minds he'd read over the decades. It was obvious I had some catching up to do if I wanted us to be on any sort of equal footing.

Edward might be my first ever boyfriend, but I was beginning to accept that he was going to be more one day…much more. In the meantime, I'd told the truth when I said I wanted to be counted as one of them, especially if it meant I could help to keep my friends and family safe.

The thought brought a lump to my throat. I was trying not to focus on how devastated my parents and Jake had looked at the memorial—it hurt too much—but that didn't mean they were far from my thoughts...or heart. Everything I felt as a vampire was intensified, and while my grief was still close to the surface, I needed to take a break from the pain or it would overwhelm me again. Though I found it frustrating how easily distracted I was as a newborn, right now distraction seemed like a _good _thing.

The faint thrumming sound of a heartbeat captured my attention, and I spun to face the direction of the incredibly welcome noise. Emmett must have brought another deer up from the forest, and for a moment nothing else mattered. I sprinted to the recently repaired French doors with Alice and Edward close on my heels, then hesitated.

"Quick...the shirt," I demanded, tugging off the lovely blue sweater I'd been wearing since the night before, revealing the lacy blouse I had on underneath.

Alice passed me a loose black T-shirt, identical to the last one she'd given me, and I pulled it over my head. _She __must __have __stock-piled __them,_ I thought absently as she tied my hair back into a ponytail, and I shot her a grateful smile. While i wasn't afraid of blood anymore—_far __from __it__—_that didn't mean I wanted it in my hair, or ruining my new clothes.

Before I could race out into the gloom of the overcast afternoon, Jasper appeared at Edward's side, a fragrant-smelling bottle in his hand. I barely gave it any notice, but when Edward groaned and tugged his shirt off over his head, my attention was redirected. My knees went weak, but thankfully Alice caught me before I stumbled, and in a way that didn't draw _too _much attention to my awe-induced clumsiness.

_Edward was just so gorgeous! _

While I'd seen his naked torso when I'd ripped his shirt from his body after the _last _time I'd fed—and during my bout of post-grief lust—I'd been too embarrassed by my actions to make much of the opportunity. This time I just sighed, drinking him in. Edward wasn't big like Emmett, his body more long and lean. But his muscles were perfectly sculptured, the dusting of hair on his chest capturing the light in a golden path that led downward across his washboard abs and disappearing behind the waistband of his low-slung pants. I swallowed hard, my thirst momentarily forgotten, and dragged my eyes up and away from such tempting, _intimidating _territory.

"Told you," Alice smirked and I nodded absently, completely riveted by the sight of Jasper now rubbing the oil into Edward's bare back. If anything, the sight of his incredibly toned back muscles flexing as he reacted to the feel of the oil, was even _more _arresting. At this rate, I was worried that Jasper might be required to perform his embarrassing lust-reducing duties _before_ the hunt even started!

Jasper shot me a quick smile, and I ducked my head.

_Busted! _I cringed, but then I got a good whiff of the strange scent emanating from Edward's now glistening skin, and my nose twitched. The smell wasn't _bad_, sort of 'woodsy' and quite subtle actually, blending well with Edward's natural aroma. I could imagine the wolves being fooled into thinking the combined scent belonged to a different vampire, but I continued to frown. Edward's scent being masked was…unsettling.

Edward noticed my reaction and looked over at me, his expression insecure. "Bella…don't you like it?"

Unable to resist the opportunity, I pulled a face. "It's _okay, _I suppose...like a mix between Charlie's Brut cologne, one of Renee's home-made scented candles, and my Granny's old potpourri sachets," I lied.

The look of dismay on Edward's face was priceless. "Jasper…" he hissed, grabbing hold of his brother's hand before he could spread any more oil, though I think the job was almost done.

"Hey, I think it smells fine!" Jasper winked at me over Edward's shoulder. "And it will certainly do the trick. The wolves won't recognise your scent...and as an added bonus, Bella might not need my services after all."

Edward growled, and I couldn't hold back my giggles any longer. But when he spun to face me, he looked so disgruntled that I covered my mouth with my hands, trying my best to compose myself. While I'd discovered that I really enjoyed teasing Edward, he _was_ enduring being doused in aromatic oil to protect me and my friends and family. Besides, he looked awfully cute half-naked and glinting.

"Bella," he growled, and I giggled again as I closed the distance between us.

"It smells fine," I placated, smiling up at him. But then I noticed the scars—teeth marks on his right shoulder, and a faint line where his left arm had been reattached—and my smile faded. Reaching up, I traced a careful pattern over their slightly raised surfaces.

"I'm so sorry. I can't believe I hurt you like that." The thought of Edward in pain was horrible, but knowing it was pain that _I _had caused felt even worse. If I hadn't been turned into a vampire, my eyes would have filled with tears.

"Hey…hey…" Edward lifted my chin and gently cupped my face with his hands. "It's all right…I'm fine. There's nothing to forgive, remember?"

I nodded reluctantly, gladly allowing him to fold me into his warm and slightly oily embrace.

"Damn…" Jasper muttered. "Should have thought of that. You two are going to end up smelling the same."

I went to pull away but saw that the damage was already done, the front of my shirt smeared with oil.

"I don't think it will be a problem," Alice commented, looking thoughtful. "Their underlying scents will combine differently with the oil. What matters is that the wolves don't recognize them...which they _shouldn't_."

All the talk of scents reminded me of a different aroma, and my thirst once again became my most pressing concern.

"I need to hunt," I murmured with an apologetic shrug. Looking outside, I saw Emmett holding a deer on the edge of the forest, and venom pooled in my mouth. My body, torn between two competing draws—the blood and Edward—trembled in Edward's arms. Releasing me, he pulled away to tug a clean shirt over his head, and I whimpered, disappointed at the loss of his arms from around me..._and _the sight of his incredibly hot, sexy and oh, so beautiful body. But then the sound of the deer's heartbeat grew louder and even _more _compelling, and I spun to face the yard.

To my relief, Alice had opened the French doors, saving me the humiliation of accidentally ripping them off their hinges...again.

"Stay close?" I asked, turning to look over my shoulder at Edward. He nodded uncertainly and I smiled, wanting to reassure him. In all honesty, I couldn't guarantee I'd be able to keep it together any more this time than the last...but I was going to try. On impulse, I reached behind me and grabbed Edward's hand, pulling him with me as I headed out into the yard.

"Umm...Bella?" I heard the wariness in his voice, as he tried to tug his hand free.

"Together, remember? I grinned, looking over at my incredibly good-looking new boyfriend as we raced across the patio, his crazy hair ruffling in the breeze while his intriguing scent caused my nose to twitch. And together we leapt, flying through the air before landing beyond the garden beds and speeding across the yard.

I laughed out loud, my eyes trained on the deer Emmett was herding toward us. But as we closed the distance my feeling of oneness with Edward was overtaken by an uncomfortable paranoia, and I hesitated. Conflicted, I shot him an anguished look, wanting him close but knowing I couldn't bring myself to share the deer—the _blood_—even with him.

"It's all right...go...feed," he urged me onward. "I'll be nearby."

Grateful, I smiled, and then leapt the last twenty yards through the air, pouncing on my prey and putting both of us out of our misery. With a flick of my wrist I ended the deer's life, simultaneously sinking my teeth into its neck and drawing the blood I craved deep into my throat. While I was still very much aware of everything going on around me—Edward's family members standing guard in the forest, Jasper and Alice having followed us from the house, and Edward watching me from a short distance away—my focus was on the sweet, soothing blood. Moaning blissfully, I sank down into the grass to drink my fill as the rush overtook me.

This time, when I slowly came back to reality, I wasn't _quite_ so covered in blood...or as freaked out. Laying the deer aside, I reached into my pockets for the wet-wipes before remembering Alice hadn't given me any this time.

"Damn," I muttered as I sprang into a crouch, instantly defensive at Edward's approach. He knelt down a few yards away, his movements slow and cautious.

"Here," he murmured and tossed a packet of the convenient moist towellettes near my feet. My eyes stayed glued to his as I carefully wiped my hands, removed the slightly damp over-shirt, and then reached toward him. As our fingers entwined, Jasper responded to my instant change in mood and turned his talent our way.

"_No!" _I hissed as the zappy tendrils rapidly approached. The feeling that overcame me when Edward and I touched was so wonderful, I didn't want to lose it or share it or have Jasper _drain __it __away!_

My shield activated, encircling Edward and I and cocooning us away from his interfering family and their freaky abilities...well, _Jasper's._

"Bella?" Edward whispered as I crawled into his lap.

"It's all right. I've got it under control," I murmured, the evidence of Jasper's talent sparking off my shield like tiny lightning strikes. It was pretty, but not enough to distract me from my course of action...kissing Edward.

He hesitated for a moment then wrapped his arms around me as our mouths met, and I moaned against his lips. _I __could __do __this_, I told myself, _drink __blood __without __going __crazy __afterward_. But Edward's lips—warm, soft and mobile as they moved against mine—felt so wonderful that my control quickly slipped. My fingers twisted through his hair as his hands roamed gently up and down my back. And a part of me wanted him to pull me tight against him, to hold me so close that I could feel him—_all_ of him—like I had when I'd been teasing him in my room. But while it was exhilarating to know that I could make him lose control, it was also a little frightening_._I wanted him so badly, but I wasn't quite sure where that longing came from. Would I have felt the same if I was still human, or was this hunger—my newfound _boldness__—_only occurring because I was now a vampire?

Unsure, I drew back just enough to gaze into his eyes, the darkening irises ringed with burgundy. _Did __that __mean __he __was __hungry? _I didn't know if it was for me or for blood, and felt bad for not having offered to share the deer.

"Sweetheart?" Edward reached to cup my face with his hand, gently stroking my cheek with his fingers. "Everything's all right...it's just the bloodlust...remember?"

"No, it's not," I contradicted, wanting to convince myself. "It's you...and it's me..." I murmured, leaning forward to press my lips against his once more, unable to resist the temptation of his sweet kisses.

Edward groaned, his arms pulling me close as he whispered against my mouth, "I love you so much, Bella...so very much."

The vestige of control I'd been hanging onto disappeared at his words, and our kisses became frenzied. Edward's tongue invaded my mouth and I moaned, writhing against him as the gap between our bodies disappeared. The evidence of Edward's desire pressed hard against me, both exciting and a little intimidating, but this time I didn't pull away. I didn't know if it was me or the bloodlust, but it didn't matter. I wanted to feel him..._all _of him, even as I was stunned that this beautiful boy could want me—plain, timid, Isabella Swan—so badly!

We continued to kiss hungrily, frantically, our passion rising to a fever pitch. And even in my desire-induced delirium I knew that soon...kisses wouldn't be enough.

Then Edward began to pull back, slowing things down and drawing away from me. I wasn't ready to let go and held on tight, the growling in my chest _almost_ drowning out the sound of his ribs cracking.

"Bella!" Edward winced, and I eased my grip, my shield falling as I panicked at the pain in his voice.

The instant the shield was down, Jasper's talent hit us hard and we slumped to the ground, the remnants of our desire quite literally draining away. I whimpered, partly at the loss of the sweet sensations, but mostly because I couldn't believe that I'd hurt Edward...again.

"Bella, love...it's all right...everything's going to be fine," Edward crooned into my ear as I hid my face against his shoulder. But I didn't feel fine, I felt appalled and _frustrated _despite Jasper's deflating influence.

"Jazz?" Edward murmured in an aside.

"Yeah...I'm on it," I heard Jasper reply.

I didn't look to see what he meant, but I could certainly feel when Jasper turned his talent on us again, except that this time we were suffused with a sweet, gentle feeling of...satisfaction. Edward and I sighed in unison, our bodies relaxing into one another as we lay cocooned in a warm, soothing glow.

"Better?" Jasper murmured, and Edward nodded.

"Thanks," he whispered. I heard the smile in his voice and felt it when he pressed his lips lightly against my forehead.

"Sorry," I murmured, wanting to apologize properly but too blissfully content to lift my head.

Edward cuddled me close and whispered, "It's fine...I'm fine."

Time passed, the grey skies overhead turning slowly to black, but neither Edward nor I seemed particularly inclined to move as we floated together on a cloud of contentment.

Absently, I noted when Jasper left us, heading off into the forest with Alice by his side. I expected to feel embarrassed considering what they were going off to do. But all the emotion I could muster was mild jealousy that Edward and I weren't able to give full expression to _our_ feelings for one another, though I doubted it would be long before we did. My new vampire body was certainly ready, even if my seventeen-year-old self—the part that still felt like the old 'Bella'—wasn't quite there yet.

After a time the clouds above us parted revealing a patch of starlit sky, and I gasped. _It __was __like __looking __through __a __telescope! _The stars shone with jewel-like clarity and colour, distant galaxies visible between them as swirling clouds of space dust highlighted their heavenly orbits. Meteors whizzed toward the earth, their burning tails flashing across the velvet darkness and appearing so close it looked like I could reach out and touch them.

"Oh...how beautiful," I whispered, awestruck.

"Hmmm, beautiful," Edward murmured, his words vibrating against my skin.

I smiled and turned my head toward him, not all that surprised to find he was looking down at me and not at the sky.

"Edward," I raised one eyebrow, trying not to smile, but flattered by the adoration I saw shining in his eyes.

"What?" His look of wide-eyed innocence didn't fool me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady," he teased, his voice mock stern, and I giggled, deliberately crossing my eyes.

"Don't 'young lady' me, old man," I retorted, struggling to force my brow into a frown with crossed eyes. It was Edward's turn to laugh, but then his expression turned serious and he moved to rest on one elbow, hovering over me where I lay back upon the grass. He stared at me so intently it was my turn to ask, "What?" my voice barely a whisper.

Swallowing hard, he looked away, and I reached up and cupped his jaw, gently turning his face back toward me.

"Tell me, please?" I pleaded softly.

"I just..." He took a deep breath, while I waited...expectant.

"Please," I urged.

"I just...I love you, Bella." He shrugged, a soft, shy smile lighting up his too beautiful face.

"I...I..." I wanted to say the same, but couldn't. I'd known girls back at school in Phoenix who would say the words after the first date...and take them back just as easily. But that wasn't me. When I said the words to Edward, as I suspected I would—soon—I wanted to really mean them. Though I felt bad for making him wait.

"It's all right," Edward murmured, leaning down to kiss me softly on the lips. "I know it hasn't been very long, and I promised to take things slow."

"Thank you," I whispered, relieved that he wasn't pressuring me. "You don't have to stop saying it...if you don't want to."

"Good," he murmured against my mouth. "Because if it's all right with you, I'd like to tell you...often."

My eyelids fluttered closed and I sighed, blissfully. I might not be ready to say the words myself, but I _really _did like hearing them. It was just that I'd never told anyone I loved them before, other than my mom and dad. And Edward was right...it hadn't been very long.

Feeling him nibble on my lower lip, I opened my eyes and smiled. But then I noticed the way his irises had darkened even further, and my smile fell.

"Edward?" I asked.

"Hmmm?" he murmured, brushing his lips along my jaw.

"I'm so sorry I didn't share the blood, but I just...I _couldn't._" I didn't know how to explain the feeling that had come over me when I'd had the deer in my sights. While I wasn't normally a possessive person, that didn't even begin to cover how I felt about the blood. It was mine!

Edward froze for a moment, then pulled back to meet my worried gaze. "I didn't _expect_ you to share, Bella. No one does!"

Relief flooded through me at his words, though I was still puzzled. "But...aren't you thirsty?" He shook his head and I frowned. I could barely survive twenty-four hours without feeling like my throat had caught fire, and he hadn't hunted in more than two days! "How long before you'll need to hunt again?" I asked, curious.

"We usually feed weekly but can last two if needed. Three is a stretch."

My eyes widened and Edward smiled gently. "It will get easier, Bella," he murmured, reaching to stroke my brow. "For now, you'll need to feed daily, but in time you'll be able to go longer without feeding as you gain control over your thirst."

I nodded, worrying at my lower lip with my teeth. It sounded like I was going to have to feed a lot more often than the rest of the family, _and _that I was going to be responsible for decimating the local deer population single-handedly! Before I could voice my concern, Edward reached down and gently tugged my lip from between my teeth, kissing me tenderly. Desire surged within me at the incredible feel of his tongue stroking my lower lip, and I moaned against his mouth.

He froze and to my disappointment, pulled back. "Sorry," he muttered, his expression sheepish.

"You're forgiven," I whispered hoarsely, though it took a moment for the fluttering in my stomach to settle.

Edward looked so guilty that I couldn't resist pulling him down into a _gentle_ embrace, wary of the ribs I'd cracked earlier. Considering the way he wrapped his arms around me and rocked my body against his lean length, I was fairly certain he was all healed up.

"Geez, will you take a look at the loved-up virgins."

My smile faded at Emmett's words. I'd sensed his approach but was too happy to care. What I couldn't believe was that he had the gall to start on us _again!_

Edward tensed in my arms. "Emmett," he growled, the animal sound reverberating from deep within his chest.

"Oh, come on...you've got to admit it's funny. Jasper's got you both after-glowing like crazy, and you haven't even done the nasty yet...not once!"

Edward pulled back a little and eyed me pointedly.

"Now?" I murmured, and he nodded.

"Now!"

A couple of 'loved-up' virgins were about to make Emmett very, very sorry.

_~OB~_

_**Sigh...feeling rather 'loved-up' myself after watching the BD1 trailer for the umpteenth time.**_

_**You can add to the love - and help give OB over 500 reviews – by letting me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and wonder if you're looking forward to Emmett's punishment as much as I am!**_

_**xxx TLS**_

_**PS I have some great Fics to recommend if you're looking for something terrific to read.**_

_**Content1 placed third in the Canon Tour's PreTwilight round with her wonderful story, Brother, about Carlisle's introduction to the Volturi. It is an amazing read, as are her other stories. Start with Harvest Moon and you'll be hooked!**_

_**SqueakyZorro's Canon Tour piece was also amazing. It's called 'An English Vampire in John Piper's Bar' and can be found under her Canon Tour section. I absolutely loved this story of Carlisle's adventures when he first headed west...a really fun and fantastic read.**_

_**eiluned price is a favourite author of mine and her lovely (but very angsty - be warned!) story, The Bella Swan Scholarship Fund, recently posted, and it is wonderful! **_

_**And, of course, if you haven't read gkkstitch's Absolucion and Antithesis - you're missing out!**_


	21. Punishment

_**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, but we own our dreams. No copyright infringement intended.**_

_**Thanks as always to my amazing betas, Chloe Cougar (off in FORKS! you lucky lady!) and Squeaky Zorro, and to my prereaders, Content1 and hotwardfangirl. I don't have a 'prankster' bone in my body, so I needed lots of help coming up with the ideas in this chapter. I just hope it's enough for some of you bloodthirsty readers! LOL!**_

_**An extra special THANK YOU to my awesome readers and reviewers for all your encouragement and support. Thanks to hotwardfangirl for my 500th review (she waited and pounced – lol!) and to Soton, a new reader who reviewed heaps on her way through, for giving me my 550th. Thanks also to Cullenfest, an absolute encouragement doll, who reviewed every single chapter on her read through. Talk about dedication!**_

_**Updated: Tuesday September 27th  
>Words: 4864<strong>_

Chapter 21

Punishment

EPOV

My love for Emmett was as intrinsically woven into the fabric of my being as the love I felt for the other members of my family. While he saw the world differently from me, I had come to value his unique perspective on life. I understood his humour, appreciated the levity he brought to an often difficult existence, and the insight.

But sometimes, he just did _not_ know when to quit.

"Did you have anything particular in mind?" I asked Bella as we rose from the cool, damp ground, brushing stray bits of grass from our clothes and hair with one free hand apiece. Not automatically knowing her plans was unsettling for me...and intriguing. I didn't think she'd want to _hurt_ Emmett, not considering the remorse she felt for the perfectly justifiable injuries she'd inflicted on me in her initial newborn rage. But, I could tell she'd had enough of his teasing and was looking forward to inflicting _some_ sort of punishment. In all honesty, so was I.

"Hmmm..." Rubbing her chin with her free hand, Bella eyed Emmett musingly where he stood watching us from a short distance away. "I've got a few ideas. How about you?"

"Oh, I _always _have a wealth of ideas for torturing Emmett." I smirked.

"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Emmett smiled in glee, stretching his muscles thoroughly as if in preparation before crossing his arms to show off his perpetually bulging biceps. "I thought we were going to settle this the traditional way, with an arm wrestle."

_Oh, __man...he __just __doesn't __get __it, _Jasper snickered as he and Alice emerged from the forest, the images in their minds challenging my tenuous control. The interlude they'd just shared courtesy of Bella's newborn excesses—and more than a little of my own surfeit of..._emotion__—_had been particularly pleasurable, and I struggled to control my jealousy. Then Bella wrapped her slender arm around my waist and tucked herself in under my shoulder, and my mood lifted instantly.

"Seriously, Emmett?" Alice chimed as she and Jasper approached, their bodies close, arms wrapped around each other's waists. "Arm wrestling?"

Bella glanced their way then ducked her head against my chest, clearly embarrassed by the knowledge of how my brother and sister had spent the last few hours. While I knew she'd eventually become accustomed to the open displays of affection—and at times blatant sensuality—that were inevitable in a household full of vampires, the realization that it was _another_ thing for her to have to adjust to, added to my already heavy load of guilt.

"What? You don't think I can take her? I'm three times her size!" Emmett boasted, ignoring everything he knew about newborns along with the evidence he'd witnessed firsthand not three days earlier. He sniffed in mock disdain as if the thought of "Little Bella" taking him on was humorous.

The others approached, having returned from their guard duties, and formed a loose circle around us. I acknowledged their positive thoughts toward me with a smile even as I reached down to kiss the top of Bella's head...just because I could. There was a time to wallow in my guilt and self-loathing, and there was a time to enjoy Bella's company and just be happy. I had to admit, it was a lot more enjoyable being happy.

Esme would have been crying joyful tears if she were able, so profound was _her_ happiness at seeing Bella and I so comfortably together. _It's __been __such __a __long __time __coming, _she thought as she took refuge in Carlisle's arms. _And __I'm __just __so __relieved __you've __found __her!_

My brow rose at the sentiment considering the _way _I had found Bella, but I acknowledged Esme's thoughts with a satisfied nod.

_We __are __all __truly __happy __for __you. _Eleazar's soft smile lightened his serious expression. His opinion was shared by the other Denalis, despite the fact that their thoughts were filled with concern for their errant sister.

Like Esme, Kate looked like tears would have been close to the surface if that were possible. _Seeing __you __and __Bella __together __gives __us __hope, _she thought my way, and sympathy welled up within me as I imagined how I'd feel if our situations were reversed.

_Your __girl's __happy, _Jasper informed me quite unnecessarily.

I could feel how Bella had relaxed against my side as she listened to the banter between my impudent little sister and overgrown lummox of a brother. The hand she had wrapped around my back grasped my shirt tightly, and the one she'd brought to rest just above the waistband of my pants stroked softly against my stomach with her fingers.

It was a good thing I was such an excellent multi-tasker, or I would never have been able to keep up with the conversation considering the distraction of Bella's touch.

_Would __you __like __my __help? _Jasper queried wryly, no doubt picking up on the way Bella's almost absentminded caresses were playing havoc with my libido.

I shook my head briefly, and he shrugged. He was forgetting that Bella could see his talent at work, and I didn't want to embarrass her in front of the families...though technically, _I _was the one who should be embarrassed by my lack of self-control.

"I think you're forgetting something, Em," Alice interjected when he continued to boast about his arm-wrestling prowess.

"What?" he demanded. "What can you see?"

"Well, let me put it this way…I think you're in for a very long day," she answered with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah…whatever." Emmett shrugged dismissively. As far as he was concerned, his size and strength were more than a match for Bella's, even with her newborn advantage. "Just tell me what you've seen so we can get on with this."

"It's what we've all _already_ seen that you should be worried about," Alice retorted. "You want to _arm _wrestle Bella, when she could wrestle both arms right off your body and beat you with the soggy ends...that's if she wanted to," she added with a quick wink toward Bella, who'd recoiled at her words.

"Alice," I admonished with a growl. _What __the __hell __was __she __bringing __that __up __for?_

_Better __to __make __a __joke __of __it,_ Jasper answered my unspoken question. _The __sooner __Bella __realizes __we're __not __holding __her __newborn __reactions __against __her, __the __easier __it __will __be __for __her __to __forgive __herself __and __move __on._

I could see his point, but that didn't mean I liked Bella being put on the spot.

"Well...you could, couldn't you?" Alice grinned at Bella, who started chewing nervously on her lower lip.

"I suppose," Bella admitted tentatively. "But I was thinking of something a little less..._gory_, if that's all right with you guys. And of course, I don't want to _hurt_ him." she added, shooting Rosalie an anxious look as she approached from where she'd been standing back with Kate and Irina.

"I would prefer you didn't leave any permanent scarring," Rose rejoined, her arms crossed as she glared at Emmett. "But don't hold back on my account."

Rose had kept up a congenial front throughout the memorial service to better fit in with the family's purported grief, but she was still smarting over Emmett's ill-thought-out comments regarding Tanya's fantasies. Her plans for punishing her husband went far beyond any mere physical punishment that Bella and I could mete out. She intended depriving Emmett of the thing he wanted most..._her,_ for the foreseeable future_._I almost felt sorry for him as I imagined my devastation if I were to be deprived of Bella's company for any length of time now that I'd found her...but I didn't. He had it coming for the inappropriate comments he'd insisted on making around Bella.

"Er...yeah...definitely no permanent scarring," Emmett said, rolling his eyes as if he thought it was a joke. He _did_ back up a step however, as it began to slowly dawn on him that he was outnumbered and quite possibly outgunned.

"What then?" I murmured to Bella as I reluctantly disentangled myself from her arms, not wanting Emmett to make good on the escape he was now considering. Catching him had never been a problem for me..._holding_ him was another matter entirely.

Bella put her hand on my arm and reached up to whisper in my ear, a futile exercise but one that brought an indulgent smile to my lips.

"Do you know if he's ticklish?" she asked as softly as possible, her whispered words vibrating against my ear. Emmett's strangled cry gave Bella her answer, even as I dived to capture him before he could bolt.

Oh yes...Emmett was ticklish. And he was definitely considering escape, his eyes wide in horror at the thought of _that _sort of torture. He'd take a beating any day over tickling, and panic replaced his previously joking manner.

"No way!" he hollered as Bella took over from me and grabbed his arms. He tried to run, using his bulk to drag Bella with him, but in a lightning-quick movement, she swiped his legs out from under him, pinning him to the ground face-down with his arms held firmly behind him.

"Way to go, Bella!" Esme called and we all laughed—all except Emmett. The look on his face when he realized he couldn't escape was priceless.

"Please...not that. Anything but that," he begged, pulling against her with all his might, but Bella just laughed.

"You're getting off lightly if that's all we do to you after the way you've been riding Edward and me. Ladies...care to join me?" she called, laughing freely as she easily held the struggling behemoth.

I couldn't help grinning. For someone who had only ever experienced life as a fragile, human female, Bella's newfound strength must surely be exhilarating. _I _was enthralled just watching, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this teasing side to her.

"Maybe this will make you think twice about making so many sexist comments," she rebuked Emmett with humour but determination, and I silently commended her on her choice as the girls flashed to her side.

"Bested by a bunch of girls, hey, Emmett," I catcalled, even as Esme and Alice grinned wickedly, flexing their fingers in preparation for the 'torture' they were about to inflict.

Rosalie kept her distance, knowing her involvement would change the entire tenor of the exercise and remove the punishment aspect, but she had no intention of making this easy for her dog-house-bound husband.

"Behind his knees!" she called. "He hates that."

"Babe…no!" Emmett cried, dismayed at Rosalie's betrayal, but then the girls attacked, and his thoughts were all of escape and survival.

"Aargh!" he cried, as their wriggling fingers dug not so gently into his sides, quickly bared feet and…behind his knees_._ Roaring his outrage, he struggled in vain against Bella's far superior strength, the spectacle becoming challenging for me to watch. I couldn't bear the thought of her being harmed, but Jasper held me back when I would have intervened.

"She's doing fine and having a whole lot of fun," he drawled, grinning at the chaotic scene before us. Knowing he was right, I forced myself to relax. Emmett didn't want to _hurt _Bella—not intentionally. He thought she was cute and was actually very happy for me, despite his relentless teasing. Watching Bella hold him so easily, I relaxed even further as she laughed delightedly, her newborn strength a sight to behold. Then I picked up on Alice's plan to add a little something extra to the mix, and my own laughter broke free.

Grinning widely, I watched as Emmett was quickly reduced to squealing like a little girl, the girls' relentless teasing accompanied by their peals of laughter. The rest of the onlookers egged the girls on with laughter and catcalls. Emmett might be a much-loved member of our family, but none of us had gotten the better of him in a while…and they all agreed he had it coming for giving Bella such a hard time. Provoking a newborn was never a wise move.

"Please! No more! I surrender..." he eventually begged, finally able to form the words after what felt like an interminable length of time to him but was in reality only a little over ten minutes.

"Okay, okay, enough with the tickling," Esme relented, laughing.

"But not with the punishment!" Alice retorted, heading for the house. "Keep holding him, Bella! This is so much fun!"

"What now?" Emmett groaned as Bella allowed him to sit, while holding his arms firmly behind his back. He didn't try to escape, still recovering from the 'torture,' until he saw what was in the bag Alice had gone to fetch. "Hell, no!" he shouted, struggling in earnest but ultimately in vain. "Rose, babe, come rescue me from these crazy females, please!" he implored, but his wife merely sniffed.

"He looks good in pink," she offered haughtily, giving him 'the eye' before turning and walking toward the house.

"No! Babe...I'm sorry...really! I'll make it up to you...I'll do anything!" Emmett called, even as Alice began to paint his face with rosy cheeks, pink lips and an attempt at long, fluttery eyelashes that ended up looking more like a couple of spiders had crawled onto his face. With a resigned sigh, he stopped struggling, knowing that the sooner Alice was done, the sooner he could hopefully escape and try to make things up with Rose. It had finally sunk in that he'd seriously hurt—or at the very least _offended__—_her, and his thoughts were focused on repairing the damage…and the make-up sex he hoped would follow his apology.

"Ta da!" Alice proclaimed when he was painted to her satisfaction, and we all crowded a little closer to take a look at the final product.

"Looking good, Emmett!" Eleazar complimented him with a dry chuckle, and Carmen added in Spanish and English, "El es tan bonita! Oh...he's so pretty!"

"Man...you scrub up good as a woman!" Kate teased.

Jasper snorted. "Not good enough for me!"

"Yeah...yeah..." Emmett grumbled, "Whatever. Can I go now?"

"I think that should be up to Bella since she's the one you've treated so rudely." Esme surprised him with her declaration. While she now considered Bella to be part of the family, she thought it was way too soon for her to be subject to Emmett's particular brand of humour, and that he'd crossed the line.

"All right, I get it. Sorry, Bella. I'll try and cut you some slack since you're an emotional newbie, and all," Emmett muttered with a stubborn hint of sarcasm, and I growled at his far from acceptable apology.

"And you'll leave Edward alone, too?" Bella demanded to my surprise.

Emmett scowled in my direction, the combination of his fierce expression and garishly made-up face incongruous to say the least. "Oh...all right," he muttered, his thoughts not exactly aligning with his words.

"Does he mean it, Edward?" Bella asked astutely.

"Not really." I shrugged, earning a growl from Emmett.

"Wow, Emmett," Bella murmured. "Considering how much smarter you're supposed to become when you get turned into a vampire, you must've been pretty dumb as a human."

Bella's comment triggered guffaws of laughter, and Emmett finally relented, his expression sulky. "All right...all right...Edward, too," he conceded, rolling his eyes.

_Geez, __Edward, __you've __only __had __a __girlfriend __for __a __week, __and __you're __hiding __behind __her __already, _he taunted, and I reconsidered the need for my own personal retribution. But then Jasper caught my attention, and I realized he was one step ahead of me.

"Apology accepted," Bella replied, leaning around from where she'd remained behind him, holding his arms in her implacable grip and eyeing him pointedly. "But just remember, for the next year...I _own _you!"

With that final announcement, Bella and the girls dissolved into a fit of giggles, and she released him. Not waiting for another opportunity, Emmett bolted after his wife, whose facade of icy indifference was beginning to waver. While she planned on making him beg some more, it wouldn't be long before she relented. Rose had found the sight of her mate being thoroughly dominated by a group of females surprisingly arousing, and she wasn't one to deny herself for long.

_Didn't __think __that __was __gonna __be __enough __for __you, _Jasper snickered silently as he approached my side. _The __girl's __are __cute __n'all, __but __let's __finish __this __properly_. His thoughts revealed he believed Emmett deserved a hell of a lot more than a good 'tickling' and a painted face for his ribald comments and incessant stirring. Jasper, like me, came from a time when respect for women was ingrained in boys from an early age. While he could appreciate Emmett's humour, he'd sensed Bella's embarrassment and thought that our overgrown kid of a brother had pushed her too far. Affection and concern for my mate, both as an innocent girl and a newly-turned vampire, colored his thoughts, and I nodded, smiling warmly in his direction.

"You want to give me the specifics?" I murmured, catching glimpses from his thoughts but not fully grasping what he'd been up to.

He chuckled ominously, laying it all out in his mind, and my eyes widened. The fairly innocuous fragrance he'd concocted from a range of oils and perfumes to mask my scent wasn't the _only_ combination he'd contrived, a couple of the others not quite so pleasing.

_You __know __me, __I __like __to __be __prepared. __I __had __a __feeling __Bella __would __go __easy __on __him, __so __I __made __sure __there __was __a __back __up __in __place. __The __damage __is __about __to __be __inflicted __any __time __now,_ he thought smugly, picturing Emmett reaching for his beloved shower gel and getting a rather nasty surprise. Beneath a thin layer of the gel that he'd used to mask the odour of the new contents was a concoction that would leave Emmett smelling like a combination of wet dog and skunk. How on earth Jasper had contrived it, I didn't know—or want to—I was just grateful he'd come up with something 'Bella-friendly' to douse me in!

"Rose won't be too pleased," I murmured dryly.

Jasper shrugged. _Last __I __knew, __she __wasn't __planning __on __letting __him __anywhere __near __her __for __some__time. __Not __my __fault __she __got __turned __on __by __the __girls __attacking __her __man._

I chuckled, thinking about how 'turned on' she'd be by the scent Jasper had created.

"Won't it just wash off?"

Jasper shook his head, grinning wickedly. _Not __the __way __I've __mixed __it. __I __came __up __with __a __way __to __make __the __stuff __stick __to __his __skin __without __being __instantly __repelled. __It __won't __last __long...less __than __a __day, __but..._ He shrugged again and I returned his grin.

A day was a long time in Emmett's world.

I could hear from the house that Emmett was still at the apologizing and begging stage, but Rosalie was close to relenting. Normally they'd go straight to the sex after making up, but Rosalie had no intention of kissing Emmett while his face was covered in cosmetics. Having him shower first was definitely on her agenda; I just hoped she didn't decide to shower _with_ him, or there'd be hell to pay.

"I think that's quite the plan you've, er..._concocted_ Jazz," I murmured, secretly relieved that it was _his_ idea, not mine. Jasper, of course, could easily defuse Rose's ire, and she never seemed to get angry with him, even though she knew he was manipulating her reactions. Me, on the other hand, she stayed mad at.

Jasper wandered away to chat with Eleazar, and Carlisle came to stand beside me. For once, I was the first to instigate contact and reached to put my arm around his shoulder. We looked on as the girls continued to laugh together, lying back on the grass, their arms entwined.

_She's __really __something, __isn't __she?_ He smiled indulgently at the girl at the centre of the jumble of laughing female vampires—and my world—and I nodded. Carmen, Kate and Irina hadn't taken part in the attack on Emmett, but they'd gone to sit with the girls now that it was over and were joining in the relaxed chatter.

_She's __coping __incredibly __well __considering __the __severity __of __her __losses, _he continued, _and __I __have __high __hopes __for __her __eventual __adjustment __to __this __life_.

"I'll do whatever I can to make this easier for her," I murmured.

"I know you will, son." Carlisle patted my back reassuringly. _And __don't __forget __we're __here __for __you, __too...for __both __of __you. __You're __not __alone __in __this._

I nodded, grateful for the unconditional support that was no less than what I'd come to expect from the man who'd been both friend and father to me for almost a century. His next thoughts, however, _were_ a little unexpected.

_Would you mind telling me what your intentions are toward Bella?_

I turned and stared at him, surprised.

"Are you speaking on behalf of Bella's father, or as mine?" I whispered at the sub-vocal level Bella had yet to master.

_Both, __I __guess. _He smiled, but then his expression turned serious. _I'm __assuming __you'll __want __to __marry __her._

"As soon as she's ready...if she'll have me." I shrugged uncertainly.

_She's your mate, Edward. Of course she'll have you. In fact, I think you've both shown a remarkable degree of restraint not giving in to your desire for one another already, considering the strength of your...attraction._

I wanted to ask how he and Esme had managed to wait until their wedding, but now wasn't the time, and it wasn't like there was any rush. This short reprieve from Bella's grief and confusion was incredibly welcome but in no way indicated that she was ready to put her human life behind her and embrace the life that had been thrust upon her, no matter how eager I was for that to occur.

Wincing, I recalled my actions from earlier in the night, when I'd been caught up in Jasper's bliss-inducing satiation. I promised her I wouldn't pressure her and that we'd take it slow, but at every opportunity I blurted out how much I loved her. While Bella said she didn't mind hearing me say it, she wasn't ready to return the sentiment, which was perfectly understandable. While my loving Bella—irrevocably, unconditionally, eternally—made perfect sense, her loving me was another matter entirely.

Carlisle chuckled, sensing my tension, and gestured for us to follow the others up toward the house. Bella glanced my way upon standing, but then the girls linked their arms with hers and walked on ahead.

"Don't overthink this, Edward; it will all work out as it should. Just be patient...and try not to worry," Carlisle murmured_._"Bella's going to fit in just fine."

I hoped he was right, nodding at his sage advice, even as my eyes focused on the way Bella's jeans clung to her perfectly rounded derriere. It was an incredibly distracting sight, and I'd virtually forgotten about 'round two' in the plan to see Emmett thoroughly punished for his behaviour, when the sound of his roars tore through the night air.

Rosalie's scream was even more piercing, and I thought—not for the first time—that it was a good thing we chose to live in such an isolated location.

"You get the hell away from me, Emmett McCarty!" she screeched, the strident noise followed by the sound of doors slamming.

"I'm going to get you for this, Edward." I heard her mutter angrily at a much lower pitch.

"Blame Jazz," I called, knowing the sound would reach her even above the cacophony that Emmett was creating. To say he wasn't pleased was a bit of an understatement.

"Thanks a lot, Edward!" Jasper mock grumbled, unable to hide his glee. His thoughts told me he was thoroughly enjoying the results of his handiwork and not worried about 'handling' Rosalie.

Our group reached the patio just as Emmett burst through the back door, ripping it off its hinges in his haste, cursing loudly and threatening retribution against the perpetrator of the prank. Bella laughed at the sight of the door in Emmett's hand, Carlisle groaned at the destruction, and then we all gasped as the smell of Emmett's doctored shower gel hit us like a wave of rotting refuse.

It was only then that I noticed my lunkhead of a brother was standing there wearing nothing more than a towel—a _small_ towel—in front of my entire family and our Denali cousins.

"Emmett," I rebuked, trying desperately to keep a straight face as I blurred to Bella's side.

"Don't 'Emmett' me, Edward!" he snarled. "How'd you like to think you were finally going to get some and then end up smelling like a dying skunk?"

Bella snorted, she was laughing so hard, and I grinned at her indulgently, even as I did my best to protect her from the sight of Emmett's overly-developed and over-exposed bulk.

"I wish I'd thought of it, but I owe it all to Jazz!" I retorted, high-fiving my brother even as my nose twitched in response to the vile smell. Jasper then took a dramatic bow, while the others laughed so hard I thought Carlisle might actually have to sit down.

"Yeah, well he wouldn't have thought of it if he wasn't worried about protecting the sensibilities of you pansy-assed virgins!" Emmett hissed, and I read from his thoughts that he planned to rub himself against me so that I ended up smelling as badly as he did. A fitting punishment in his mind, but one I had no intention of allowing him to carry out.

"Oh, no, you don't," I growled as he stalked toward us, but I needn't have worried. Bella's shield had activated, intentionally or not—I wasn't sure—and Emmett's approach was quickly thwarted.

"Aargh!" he cried, stumbling backward, his towel slipping and exposing more of him than anyone but Rosalie had a right—or _wanted_—to see. I spun to face Bella, pulling her against my chest.

"Get the hell out of here, Emmett!" I growled over my shoulder, determined to protect Bella from the sight of my brother's nakedness, but she surprised me by twisting out of my arms to watch his bare-assed retreat.

"Woohoo! Go Emmett!" she called after him, and I stared at her in surprise. Not only did she not seem offended, she appeared to be enjoying the antics that I had to admit weren't exactly out of the ordinary for my family.

"Sorry about that," I apologized, regardless.

"What? That was great!" Bella retorted, grinning up at me. "We got him good, and I didn't have to tear any limbs off, or anything!"

"Carlisle's right. She's going to fit in just fine," Alice smirked, coming between us and wrapping her arms around our waists. "Welcome to the family, Bella," she added, and I tensed for a moment, wondering if Bella would react adversely to the comment.

_Don't __worry, __she's __fine, __Edward,_ Jasper reassured me, coming up to pat my shoulder. _She's __one __of __us __now__…__she __gets __that...and __she __got __a __real __buzz __out __of __seeing __Emmett __turn __tail __and __flee._

Bella continued to grin, and a sudden and unexpected surge of jealousy clawed at my gut as I wondered what she'd thought of Emmett's impressive physique. Not once since becoming a vampire had I worried about my relatively lean frame, or been envious of my brother for anything other than his easy joviality and mated state, but having Bella in my life changed...everything.

Jasper burst out with a guffaw of laughter, doubling over to slap his knees.

"Jazz?" Alice frowned at her mate, perplexed. "Delayed reaction?"

"No...it's Edward," he sputtered and I growled, which only seemed to increase his mirth. "S'all right, I won't snitch!" He waved a hand my way, continuing to laugh uncontrollably.

Personally, I couldn't see what was so funny about my seething with jealousy at even the thought of Bella looking at another male, but I was relieved Jasper had decided to protect my privacy. I owed him quite a debt for today.

"Edward?" Bella looked up at me, a puzzled expression on her face. Thinking quickly, I distracted her the best way I knew how…with a very thorough kiss. As soon as our mouths met I was engulfed by the sweetness of her breath as her soft lips opened to receive my questing tongue…and I was lost, my intentions forgotten. The kiss rapidly evolved into an erotic dance of tongues and lips moving and melding together and we moaned into each other's mouths. I could have kissed Bella forever and quite possibly would have, if it hadn't been for our audience. Though I was so caught up in the passionate spell that was woven every time I held Bella in my arms, I barely noticed their thoughts softly buzzing in the background.

"Do we just leave them to it, or should I go get a bucket of water?" Alice giggled, and I shooed her away with a flick of my hand...but the spell was broken.

Bella pulled back, but she was smiling and didn't seem overly upset that we'd gotten carried away…in public…again. Ducking her head shyly, she melted against me as we made our way into the house, and I remembered the reason I'd kissed her in the first place. Whatever she might think of Emmett's muscle-bound form, she was _my_ mate...and that was all that mattered.

_~OB~_

_**Aww...jealous Edward makes me smile. Hope you enjoyed Emmett's punishment...and it was enough for you! lol! **_

_**Reviews are awesome and make me smile, too. ;-)**_

_**xxx TLS**_


	22. Couples

_**Stephenie Meyer is responsible for Twilight and a hell of a lot of angst. No copyright infringement intended.**_

_**Thanks for the awesome response to Ch 21. I was so worried, but you guys loved Emmett's punishment, and you laughed! Some of you laughed so hard you couldn't breathe, which was just...wow! I feel like Sally Fields when she accepted her Oscar going, "You like me, you really, really like me!" (There...how's that for showing my age. Many of you will have no idea what that's about.)**_

_**Extra special thanks to my betas, SqueakyZorro and ChoeCougar, and my prereaders, content1 and hotwardfangirl. Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow and putting up with my stress attacks and sundry nonsense.**_

_**Posted: Wednesday, October 5th 2011  
>Words: 4950<strong>_

Chapter 22

Couples

EPOV

I'd spent a lot of time pacing since Bella had come into my life, pacing and smiling. The way she'd clung to my side before accompanying Alice and Esme upstairs to shower and change had brought this particular smile to my face; the quick kiss she planted on my cheek before leaving me...kept it there. Vampires normally froze in place when they were stressed, but nowadays I was more impatient than anxious. The pacing was to fill time while I awaited Bella's return.

The others had changed after the memorial into more suitable attire for guarding Bella while she hunted, but the girls and I had needed to change again after our various romps in the grass. I was keen to wash off the scented oil that coated my torso, but the time it took _me _to shower, change and take up my post at the foot of the stairs was a lot less than the time it took Bella to get ready. I spent a full seventeen minutes without her, but when she finally appeared at the top of the stairs, I decided it was worth it. She looked amazing, dressed in another pair of incredibly well-fitting jeans, a cute pair of ballet style flats, and a white embroidered blouse made from a sheer material..._quite _sheer, actually.

Gulping, I realized I could see through the material of her blouse to the lacy bra beneath, the colour of which was a very pale blue, or maybe lavender. It was a little difficult to tell even though I studied it intently.

"Like what you see?" Bella asked, a smile in her voice, and my eyes shot up to her face to see her bemused expression, one eyebrow raised. Trying to explain _why _I'd been staring so pointedly at her breasts, I ended up stammering like an untried lad which was not the impression I wanted to give. But to my relief, she didn't seem offended; she just smiled in a way that affected my balance, and leaned in for a kiss when I swayed toward her.

Daylight was still quite a few hours off when both families assembled in the living room to wish Irina farewell on her journey north. Once again, Bella was firmly tucked against my side, one arm around my waist and the other hand resting just above the waistband of my jeans. She needed me, wanted to be with me, even seemed to _like _me, and I was amazed at my highly undeserved good fortune. Unable to resist the urge—and despite our admittedly indulgent audience—I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, and then her brow, and then the soft skin of her cheek. She smelled and felt and _was _so amazing that my heart swelled at her nearness, and I wanted nothing more than to worship every available inch of her, well, those 'inches' that it was appropriate for me to...worship. My lips were making their way steadily toward the delicate curve of her ear when she squeezed my side and pulled back a little.

"Hmmm?" I murmured, disappointed with the interruption but quickly sobering when I saw the serious look on her face.

"There's something I need to say," she explained, gaining everyone's immediate attention.

"Irina?" Her voice sounded hesitant as she stepped forward, taking me with her. "Before you go, I just wanted to apologize. I'm really sorry...for what happened yesterday."

"Oh, that's all right. We understand," Irina reassured her with a gentle smile.

"I didn't mean to drive your sister away." Bella shrugged uncertainly, looking from Irina to the other Denalis. "I've never lost it like that with anyone before...well, before I was turned into a vampire," she added, glancing my way.

"It was not without provocation, my dear." Eleazar was quick to reassure her. "Don't worry about Tanya. Irina will find her and we'll sort things out with her from there. Whatever happens, we don't blame you in the least."

Bella visibly relaxed and I caressed her arm, the skin blessedly bare beneath the gathered frill of her sleeve. I'd have to thank Alice, and maybe hint that more short-sleeved tops would be appreciated…well, by _me_.

"Are the rest of you all right to stay a little longer, or do you want to go together?" Carlisle asked, his polite tone hiding the concern he felt that our numbers could soon be seriously depleted.

"No, we'll stay," Kate addressed her words to me. "Irina will find Tanya, but you need us. The least we can do is help you to keep Bella safe, especially after everything..." her words trailed off, her thoughts revealing the continuing distress she felt at Tanya's deception and ill-treatment of me.

"Thank you," I said, keeping my answer simple. "Bella and I appreciate your support."

Bella smiled at my words, her arm tightening around my waist, and we shared a look that lingered for a moment. Bella's declaration that she wanted to be counted as one of us in the battle to keep her family and friends safe seemed to have brought her a measure of peace, allowing her to relax her guard and enjoy the growing bond between us. At least that was what I assumed, since I was relying purely on conjecture. Whatever her thoughts and reasoning, I hoped to make the most of her relaxed mood to further cement our relationship...and to prove that her tentative trust in me was not misplaced.

After Irina left, the remaining Denalis chose to spend some time alone together, needing to reconnect and still with much to discuss.

Emmett's thoughts were clearly audible from the garage where he was attempting to scrub the stench from his skin with various increasingly harsh cleaning agents. Fortunately his words were not quite so distinct. I'm sure Bella had heard plenty of bad language during her years of attending high school, but I was glad she couldn't hear Emmett's colourful tirade...well, I hoped she couldn't. Her newborn hearing may well have been better than mine.

Rose had opted for some alone time of her own while she got over her sulk, though I was sure she'd be down to join us when she'd had a bit of time to cool off _and _to ask Jasper how she was supposed to remove the truly awful stink from her bathroom...and her husband.

The remaining Cullen couples—Bella and I included—took our seats on the various couches in the living room.

Alice perched happily on Jasper's knee as Esme nestled against Carlisle's side while I took a risk, choosing a single seater chair. To my relief, Bella sank into my lap without hesitation and snuggled against me, one hand playing idly with the buttons on the shirt I'd changed into after my hurried shower. More relaxed than I'd seen her—well, without being under the influence of _Jasper_—she rested her head against my shoulder, sighing happily when I leaned down to nuzzle her hair.

For a long, contented moment we spent time connecting as couples. It was the very first time I'd been included in the experience, and my throat tightened almost unbearably as joy and a gnawing fear warred within me. I couldn't quite believe that this beautiful girl, whom I had come to love so intensely and so quickly, was really mine.

As if sensing my conflicted emotions, Bella snuggled in even tighter, releasing a button on my shirt to slip her fingers in between the folds and caress my bare skin. Predictably, desire exploded within me, and my chest rumbled beneath her hand.

She giggled. "Are you..._purring_?" she asked, staring up at me with a mischievous expression on her face.

"No!" I retorted horrified, even as my fickle family laughed at my shame. Vampires did not purr!

"Well, that's what happens when you stroke a pussycat's belly," Esme noted matter-of-factly, and I gaped.

"Esme!" I hissed, wondering how she could embarrass Bella like that, shocked at her disloyalty.

Bella giggled again while continuing to stroke the patch of bare skin she'd accessed, not seeming the least bit embarrassed. "Sounded like a purr to me," she insisted.

"Well...maybe a little," I admitted grudgingly.

"Thought so." She smiled smugly and slipped another button on my shirt, but I stilled her hand, worried I'd lose complete control if she continued in that manner. As it were, my stomach muscles kept clenching beneath her feather light touch, and it took all my control not to _purr_ some more.

Her smile faded and she withdrew her hand, going back to playing with the buttons on my shirt. I was worried my actions had upset her, but she spoke before I could explain.

"So...the memorial today." She addressed her words to Esme. "Were you able to give my dad a hug?"

"Yes, Bella...I did," Esme answered, her tone gentle.

"Oh...that's good," Bella nodded, ducking her head against my shoulder. I could feel the tension in her body and held her close.

"Did you talk to my mom?" she asked after the silence had stretched for a few minutes.

Esme nodded. "We chatted for quite a while after the service. She wanted to talk about you and to ask about Edward, to know if you two had met during the summer…if you were friends before the _accident._"

"Oh..." Bella murmured, and just like that, the atmosphere changed entirely.

_~OB~_

BPOV

"Would you like to talk about your family...how you're feeling?" Carlisle asked, reminding me of the school counsellor Renee insisted I see when she was going through her 'everybody needs therapy at some time in their life' stage.

I shook my head and went back to playing with the buttons on Edward's shirt, a _slightly_ less distracting proposition than touching the bare skin beneath.

I hadn't meant to spoil the vibe in the room. In fact, I'd been thinking about how nice it was sitting with Edward and his family, a little surprised I wasn't embarrassed or nervous in front of them. It was a vampire thing, I supposed, as I knew I would have behaved rather differently if I'd brought Edward home to meet Charlie. Stifling a giggle, I'd imagined the reaction we would have received if I'd sat on Edward's lap in front of my chief-of-police dad. But then that unlikely image had led to thoughts of Charlie sitting all by himself in his house in town, and the request I'd made of Esme to give him a hug at my memorial service. Once I'd thought of it, I needed to know if she'd gotten the chance to offer him that small comfort...from me.

Keeping my grief in check and not thinking about the memorial or my folks had been difficult, but I'd managed it for most of the evening...and had an amazing time. To my relief, I was finding that being a vampire wasn't _all _bad.

There was the speed, for one thing. Running with Edward across his parent's back yard was exhilarating, and I couldn't wait until we could run further out into the forest...faster. Hiking had never been on my 'to do' list—my lack of coordination and already impressive injury list taking away from its allure—but things were different now. _I _was different, and I was eager to find out what else this new, faster, stronger body could do.

Subduing and holding Emmett had been easy...and so much fun. I just hoped we hadn't gone too far. Rose seemed really annoyed, and I could occasionally hear Emmett muttering away outside in the shed, his cursing quite inventive and colourful. He'd just finished threatening to do something anatomically impossible to Jasper, and I couldn't quite stifle a giggle.

"What?" Edward murmured close to my ear, _almost _causing me to forget why I'd laughed, but I did my best to ignore the feel of his breath against my skin so that I could answer.

"Do you think Emmett's suffered enough?" I answered Edward's question with one of my own.

"Yes!" Emmett shouted in reply, rapidly approaching the house, and I was impressed by both his hearing and speed. "I'm sorry, Bella, honestly. I'll be good in future...no more teasing," he promised from just outside the back door. "Well...not _too _much," he couldn't resist adding.

"Emmett," Edward warned.

"Okay, okay...no more teasing about you guys being virgins, or your pitiful lack of a sex-life, or your amazing powers of abstinence, or how pure and good you both are..."

Everyone laughed, except Edward who shifted beneath me, growling.

"It's all right," I whispered, capturing his cheek with my hand and looking into his eyes, hoping to distract him. He looked furious, ready to take Emmett on singlehandedly, but the last thing I wanted was for him to end up smelling like skunk! "Don't worry about Emmett's teasing. It's mostly fun, and besides, I can take him anytime I want and make him cry like a little girl...remember?"

"Yeah...but only for a year," Emmett grumbled and Edward's frown lightened.

"Please guys, I'm sorry!" Emmett begged. "Tell me how to get rid of this stink, it's driving me crazy, and Rose won't let me near her like this. Have mercy!"

"On one condition," Edward offered, his tone implacable.

"Anything!" Emmett agreed instantly.

"Leave Bella out of this, and keep your thoughts between the two of us!"

Emmett went quiet for a while, and then Edward sighed and rolled his eyes, so I guessed the exchange had gone 'internal'. Personally, I doubted Emmett's ability to follow through and imagined this particular battle was far from over.

With a resigned nod from Edward, Jasper told Emmett where the antidote to the noxious odour was to be found, and Emmett raced through the house, gleefully informing us he was intent on a long hot bath and some 'Rose time.'

The thought made me squirm, as I had a fair idea that _they _wouldn't be playing board games. We'd be able to hear them if they stayed in the house, though the others didn't seem to think anything of it. With a gasp, I realized that's what Alice and Jasper had been up to the day before when I'd heard all the trees crashing in the forest.

_Holy __cow!_ I thought, more than a little shocked and trying _not _to imagine what they'd been doing to cause so much destruction while they were...were...

"Bella, you okay?" Jasper asked and I ducked my head, not wanting to answer. I'd never thought of myself as a prude, especially after living with a couple of honeymooners, but Renee and Phil had been pretty sensitive to my presence and kept their amorous moments fairly subdued. Being able to hear _everything_ was going to make things interesting.

"I'm fine," I offered eventually, taking note of the _other_ vibe that had permeated the room. It was soft, sensual...like a dark velvet cloak, and a quick glance revealed it had Esme and Carlisle in its thrall. Jasper and Alice might have shared some 'alone time' earlier in the evening, but from the glances Esme was shooting Carlisle—and his whispered "Later..." that I don't think I was supposed to overhear—it wasn't hard to tell the direction of their thoughts. I'd seen Renee and Phil look at each other the same way, a sign for me to make myself scarce.

"Edward?" I murmured as quietly as I could, even though I now realized the others would, of course, hear me.

"Hmmm..." he responded, nuzzling my brow again_, _and I smiled against his chest. Esme and Carlisle weren't the _only _couple affected by the bewitching hour.

"Do you remember offering to let me hear you play the piano?"

Edward stilled for a moment, then leaned back to catch my eye.

"You want me to play the piano..._now_?" He seemed puzzled by my request, and without moving my head I eyed the increasingly amorous couples pointedly, hoping he'd get my message. He frowned for a moment then his eyes went wide.

"Oh...sure...if you like," he practically stammered and I suppressed a smirk. Rising from his lap, I captured his hand and tugged him toward the door.

"Stay," Esme offered, though I couldn't help noticing how thoroughly entwined she and Carlisle had become over the course of the last hour. "We thought you'd want to talk, maybe have questions you'd like to ask us."

I shrugged, keeping my expression blandly polite. "Do you mind if I take a raincheck? I'd really like to hear Edward play, and I'm sure you guys could do with some time alone...well not exactly alone as you'd be together...I mean, as couples... well, individual couples, not _two _couples together, of course..."

Jasper chuckled and my shoulders slumped. _So __much __for __a __smooth __exit._

"Thank you, that's very _understanding_ of you." Carlisle embarrassed me further with the emphasis he placed on his words, and I dragged Edward from the room.

It was a pity vampires couldn't blush, as I would have loved to see Edward's cheeks all pink and rosy. But even without the colour, I could tell that he was just as embarrassed as I was. The fact that Rosalie was well on the way to forgiving her errant husband for his previous offenses, and that we could hear them _making __up_, wasn't exactly helping.

Neither of us spoke until we were seated together in front of the beautiful grand piano I'd spotted during my earlier tour of the Cullen's home. The house was huge with several large living areas, all with plate glass windows that seemed to take up the entire rear facade of the house. The piano, situated next to one such window, had a long, low couch nearby, but there was never any doubt as to where I would sit...beside Edward, our thighs and shoulders touching.

The other couples—well...Esme, Carlisle, Alice and Jasper—were trying to keep the noise down, but my new hearing was too acute to miss the sounds of the sighs and softly murmured words of affection coming from the bedrooms they'd retreated to upon our exit. Being around Renee and Phil when they were feeling amorous had only ever made me feel uncomfortable. But hearing and _knowing _what the other couples were doing while I was with Edward affected me differently. Our linked hands rested lightly on his thigh, my small hand enclosed in his much larger one. The way he played with my fingers, his thumb running lightly up and down, tracing the outline of my hand from the tips to the webbing in between each finger, sent delicious sensations racing up my arm and stirred other..._darker_ sensations to life.

If he didn't start playing the piano soon, I wasn't sure I could be held accountable for my actions.

"Would you rather we went down to your room," Edward asked eventually, his voice subdued.

"What? No!" _Was __he __crazy?_The last thing we needed was to be alone together in my hidden, sound-proofed room with the very tempting bed...unless he _wanted_ us to end up doing exactly what the other couples were doing.

Edward's eyebrows shot up at my reaction, but I forestalled any questions—and my barely controlled desire—by wrenching my hand from his and attempting a very ragged rendition of chopsticks...loudly.

"Okay, okay...I'll play," he chuckled, stilling my pounding hands with one of his own. His long, supple fingers began to move up and down the keyboard, producing soft, alluring sounds that redirected my attention from the noises filtering from the upstairs rooms. Unfortunately, as Edward played one haunting, evocative piece after another, the notes seemed to take on a life of their own, drawing the sensual cloak I'd noticed earlier even more tightly around us. My head came to rest against his shoulder as I leaned into his side, one hand resting lightly on his back and feeling the muscles moving beneath the cotton of his shirt, the other tracing curlicues in time with the music up and down his thigh.

His playing reached deep inside me—warm, enticing—creating a response both primal and insistent. I ached...heat pooling low and liquid in my belly, and I wondered if he felt it, too.

"Edward..." His name was drawn from my lips on a sigh, and the music faltered. I hadn't meant for him to stop, but when his hands stilled on the keys, his body frozen in place, eyes closed, my good intentions scattered like leaves blown before the wind. Knowing that we'd agreed to take things slow, I tried to resist temptation...and failed. Driven by the desire surging within me, I ducked beneath his arm to climb across his thighs and straddle his bodies came into perfect alignment with my mouth mere inches from his own.

Edward swallowed hard, and I traced a finger along the strong line of his jaw, before gently caressing his bobbing Adam's apple.

"Bella," he groaned, his eyes closed tight and brow furrowed as if he were in pain.

I slowly licked my lips, leaning forward so that I was close enough to Edward for my tongue to brush along his full, lower lip. His gasp drew the breath from my lungs. "It's okay," I murmured, pressing my mouth softly against his.

For a long, tense moment, he remained frozen, but then he groaned again. His mobile lips opened beneath mine as he tilted his head to kiss my mouth over and over, from one angle, then the other, our noses bumping slightly in our eagerness.

"Oh..." I moaned, my hands coming up to cup Edward's face as his hands roamed over my back, his fingers tangling in my hair. Suddenly desperate, I couldn't get close enough, whimpering as the passion that overwhelmed my senses bordered on pain. I tugged the shirt from the back of Edward's jeans, _carefully_ so as not to tear the material this time, but I had to touch his bare skin...I _had _to!

His entire body shuddered when my hands reached his flesh, even as his tongue invaded my mouth, sliding past my lips and teeth, stroking repeatedly… warm…wet…enticing. His taste and scent invaded my senses, etching themselves on my consciousness and burrowing deep into my core.

Forget blood, forget waiting, forget common-sense, forget the fact that I hadn't even known him for a week...I'd never wanted anything as much as I wanted Edward in that moment.

Moaning, I pulled my body even tighter against him on the very edge of control, but I was careful not to break anything...this time.

"Unggh!" Edward's groan reverberated throughout my entire body, my internal muscles clenching tightly, deliciously, in a way I wanted to feel again. Whimpering, emboldened, I kissed him with everything I had, our tongues mating, our lips crushing together. My fingers found their favorite place, lost in the tangles of his hair, as his hands continued to roam my fevered flesh...confidently but reverently, never quite going to those places that so desperately desired his touch.

"Edward...please," I begged, wanting..._more._

"I know, baby, I know," he murmured against my lips, and the kiss went to a whole new level, our mouths expressing our passion for one another...without words. My hands slid further up his back, taking his shirt with them and revealing the sculptured muscles of his belly that I'd so admired earlier in the evening. I sat back, my breath coming fast and hard, and ran my hands around to trail across Edward's stomach. It quivered beneath my touch and his head fell back. The guttural moan that rumbled up from his belly pulled an answering moan from my lips...and a smile as I pushed his shirt further up his chest, my hands mapping and claiming his warm, smooth, muscular flesh.

A part of me wanted him to move my clothing out of the way, too, so that I could press my bare skin against his. But Edward's hands remained where they'd settled, gripping my hips. He held me so tight, I was fairly certain I would have bruised if I'd still been human...but I wasn't...and I liked it. I liked so many things about this beautiful boy.

Leaning forward to kiss him again, I moaned as our mouths met and melded together, Edward's hand moving to my back as he encircled me in his arms. Desire making me daring, I rocked my body against his, and for one sweet, heated moment, he held me close, giving us a taste of just how very good it was going to be between us…but then he pulled back.

Whimpering, I held him tightly, not wanting to let go.

Edward shuddered and then strained against my hold, forcing enough space between us to grasp my shoulders at arm's length.

"No!" I cried. "Don't stop..."

"Please, Bella. We have to," he gasped, his breath coming in short pants.

"Why?" I whimpered, the overwhelming desire coursing through me cancelling out all other emotions...all reason.

Edward trembled, the look in his eyes as he continued to deny us agonizing. But then he spoke, his whispered words changing everything.

"Because it's too soon, remember?" he whispered, and the fight left my body. Though desire still hummed in every cell, I stopped straining against his hold and slumped backwards, allowing the space he wanted to come between us.

"Oh..." I murmured. "Right..." My hands fell to my sides and I would have moved off his lap, but he hauled me against his chest, tucking my head beneath his chin.

"Bella, baby...I love you...I _want_ you...I just..."

"Just what?" I leaned back far enough to look into his eyes, my hands resting lightly against the wall of his chest.

"I just...You don't know how long I've waited for you," he whispered, his expression haunted. He looked away, and I lifted a hand to gently cup his cheek, drawing him back to me.

"It's okay...I'm here now," I reminded him, my heart aching at the passion and the pain I saw in his eyes. I was seventeen, and I couldn't begin to imagine waiting all those years.

"I know, sweetheart, and I'm so glad, but I want things between us to be..._perfect._ Vampire mating is mostly about lust, Bella, like the bloodlust. It takes over until nothing else matters, well...other than blood."

"And you don't want that for us?" I whispered, as the shame that had been missing earlier surged within me. I'd let the lust overwhelm me, and wouldn't have stopped if it hadn't been for Edward's self-control.

"I don't want _only_ that," he clarified, his gaze intense. "I know what it's like to lose your humanity altogether, and I've had to fight long and hard to get back what I have. I don't want that for you, Bella, for us. I want..._more."_

Nodding, I let my eyes drop. My _body_ felt ready, well, this new vampire body certainly did. If I'd still been human, and by some miracle of miracles Edward had wanted to date me, I knew I wouldn't have been ready to have _sex_ with him after only a few days. I wanted more, too, but everything was intensified as a vampire. The days felt like _weeks_ they'd lasted so long and so much had happened, but he was right...it hadn't been that long.

I took a deep breath. "You love me," I murmured, and he nodded. . "And you want me to love you too...the same way..._before.._."

Edward tensed. "I don't want to presume, or for you to feel pressured in any way, but if there is any chance that you could come to feel for me the same way that I feel about you—in spite of everything I've done—then yes, I'd like that very, very much..._before_," he agreed, his expression hesitant, his smile gentle and sexy and so very tempting that I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do.

_Lie?_

Of course I was _in __love _with Edward...who wouldn't be? But one thing Renee had drummed into me over the years was the difference between infatuation and real love. I was smitten, as Renee would call it, but I knew there was a love that went much deeper than that, a love based on friendship, commitment, and mutual devotion, not just chemistry. Despite my raging desire, I wanted to be sure I had that sort of love before I gave myself to someone...completely. While I liked Edward more than I'd ever liked anyone, I couldn't deny that there was something that held me back from making the unequivocal declaration that would have matched his. Maybe I _did_ need more than a few days, after all.

At least now I knew why Edward wanted to wait. And the last thing I wanted was for him to think that I was no better than Tanya, only out to use him for his body...his incredibly good-looking, attractive and _oh...so...sexy __body._

Despite all my good intentions, I swayed inexorably toward him, and it didn't seem possible that the firestorm of desire searing my senses could be contained. But the distance Edward maintained between our bodies, and his soothing touch gradually banked the flames to a slow, smouldering burn. He let his forehead drop to rest against mine, his sweet breath brushing my cheek while his magical hands continued to map the contours of my body, well..._some_ of the contours, the safe, relatively non-erogenous ones.

A soft sigh escaped my lips as I considered that my entire body was actually one big erogenous zone where Edward was concerned.

"Okay...we'll wait," I murmured. "But we're going to have to find a way to distract ourselves because I can't seem to keep my hands off you."

Edward chuckled. "Me either," he admitted and we smiled ruefully at one another.

_~OB~_

_**Okay...I know, I know...another almost but not quite! Yeah, just call me the Queen of UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension for those like me that have to google these things – LOL!) **_

_**The problem is I can't keep Bella's hands off Edward, or vice versa, even though I ****know it's only been a few days and the poor kids need some time to get to know one another. The other problem is – well, it's the same problem – is that I'm so keen to see them, er...get together, that I keep holding up the story to, er...almost get them together. I'll try to do better. Sigh...**_

**_Reviews are always appreciated. :D _**

_**xxx TLS**_

_**PS:**_

_**I wrote an outtake from this chapter after one of my betas (a real Carlisle/Esme fan) made a comment about imagining what her second favourite Twilight couple had gotten up to when they left Edward and Bella alone at the piano. It got me to thinking and this little outtake is the result. I was going to post it separately, but as I doubt I'll be writing many other outtakes for this story, I decided to post it below this chapter. **_

_**So...here it is. Rated M for lemons!**_

Once Bitten Chapter 23 Couples

Outtake - Reconnecting

Carlisle POV

Too eager to wait until Edward and Bella were settled at the piano, I sped with Esme cradled in my arms up the stairs to our room as soon as the young couple exited. My beloved wife burrowed against me with her head resting on my shoulder. Nuzzling against her brow with my lips, I inhaled the sweet smell of her hair as I ran, impatient to have her alone…and have my way with her.

With all the stress of the last week, we'd had only a few hours alone together while Bella was changing. During that time, my darling was too worried to do anything other than sit beside me, our hands tightly clasped, her thoughts a jumble of hope, confusion, and fear. She'd waited for this moment for so long—we both had—and had such high hopes for Edward and Bella, whilst acknowledging Bella's terrible losses and the obstacles that stood in the newly mated couple's way.

I'd fared little better. Between dealing with the wolf pack, the school and city officials, the organization of the memorial, my family with their intensely varied responses to Edward's indiscretion, my heartfelt hopes for my firstborn son's ultimate happiness, and Bella's newborn volatility, it had been a challenging week on multiple fronts. Time connecting with my precious mate was precisely what I needed.

With the door closed behind us, our lips met as we struggled to disrobe without destroying our designer garments. Esme preferred that we donate our clothing to the goodwill after wearing them, rather than adding to the ever growing rag pile, but amorous vampires were notoriously rough on fragile fabric.

Soon my hands met soft, smooth, supple skin, and I sighed blissfully.

"Esme," I moaned, as she moved into my arms, our naked bodies entwining in the way that was both achingly familiar and yet always new.

"Oh, Carlisle," she sighed against my neck, her full, firm breasts rubbing against my chest as my already aroused member throbbed between us. "I've missed you so."

"I know, my sweet, me too," I murmured, against her hair.

With one hand cupping the curve of her bottom, I pulled her up to rub the soft curls at the apex of her thighs against my eager, waiting cock. My other hand slowly mapped the gentle swell of her hip, the sweet indentation of her waist, and then slowly…tantalizingly…over the slight ridge of her rib to my ultimate destination. When my trailing fingers met the under curve of her breast, I gently teased the softest of skin with the back of my knuckles, before turning my hand to cup the delightful weight of her breast. Esme's hungry moan was my reward, that and the feel of her nipple tightening against the palm of my hand before I traced the outline of her peaked nipple.

Reaching up to capture the back of my neck, she pulled my head down to hers, hungry for my lips, our tongues tangling as we reacquainted ourselves with each other's delicious taste. With ravenous kisses, we fell backward onto the bed moaning against each other's mouths as our bodies perfectly aligned with her laying on top. Caressing one another eagerly, passionately, we explored the familiar territory as if for the very first time, each touch producing a thrill of pleasure that radiated throughout our fervently aching bodies.

"Ungh…" I groaned, as Esme's mouth found a favorite spot of hers…and mine, along the curve of my neck just below my left ear. Many, many times over the years since we'd married, I'd given thanks to God for that particular erogenous zone…and the skill with which Esme wielded her truly amazing tongue.

When her hands began the exploration of my body that I knew would lead to her grasping my cock in her equally skilled fingers, I forestalled her, flipping her onto her back and coming to rest with the head of my cock at her sweet, slick entrance.

"Can't wait…" I groaned. "Need to be inside you. Hard. Fast." Ultimately, reduced to single syllables I surged against her, and my darling obliged, bending her knees, she opened her legs wide to welcome me into her tight, hot, wet sheath, her hands gripping my backside as she urged me home. Every single time I penetrated her beautiful body, it felt like the first time, and I paused…awed and amazed by the exquisite sensations created as the two of us once again became one.

"Oh, yes, Carlisle, my love," she moaned against my ear, and I lifted my weight onto my arms to stare down with the utmost gratitude into the most beautiful face in all creation. My mate…my love…my wife.

"Love you," I managed two syllables, this time. But the feel of her silken sheath tightening around my pulsing cock shattered my momentary control, and I surged higher, lifting her body off the bed as she arched beneath me.

And so began the dance that we had perfected over time, our bodies so in tune with one another that we could bring each other to completion within moments, or prolong the sweet torment, keeping each other on the edge indefinitely in order to intensify the exquisite release.

Impatient for the long moments of shared ecstasy that our climax would bring, we surged against one another…urgently…fiercely, knowing that there would be opportunity to go more slowly the next time we made love this night…or the next. Vaguely cognizant of the fact that our innocent new family member was within hearing range of our lovemaking, I stifled Esme's cries of pleasure with my mouth as I thrust hard, penetrating her body over and over again. Quickly reaching the peak of our passion, we hovered there, wanting to draw out the pleasure even as we hungered for release. Then unable to wait any longer, I pumped harder, faster, tumbling us both over the edge of ecstasy and into our own private world of passion, love, and bliss.

_~R~_

**_Sigh…It wasn't our beloved Edward and Bella, but I hoped that relieved the UST…just a little. ;) _**


	23. Elephants

_**Stephenie Meyer = Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.**_

_**First up I'd like to say a huge thank you for all the reviews and alerts this last week. **_

_**Thanks as always to my wonderful betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro and to my prereaders, hotwardfangirl and Content1. I wouldn't be here without you.**_

_**Thanks also to all the readers who have gone over to my new All Human story, A Forbidden Love, to read and review. For those who don't normally read historical romances and have expressed concern, please be assured that AFL isn't a typical, cliché ridden period piece. Yes, Edward is quite the domineering, overprotective 'Lordward,' but he's utterly swoonable. And yes, Bella is quite naive and out of her depth (she really doesn't stand a chance,) but she's no fool. ;)**_

_**Posted: Friday October 14th 2011**_  
><em><strong>Words: 5840<strong>_

Chapter 23

Elephants

BPOV

Considering the decision we'd made to slow things down—_again__—_staying where I was on Edward's lap probably wasn't the wisest idea. Being in his arms felt incredibly good, but it was also incredibly tempting. Well aware that the slightest of touches could reignite the flames of our passion, I sighed against his chest.

"Hmmm?" he murmured, his lips vibrating against my brow, and I quelled a shiver. Despite the almost overwhelming urges of my new vampire body, I was determined to honor Edward's wishes. He was trying so hard to make amends for what he'd done to me. His humanity—which I could see was his _true _nature, despite the attack that had changed my life—dictated that our relationship be built on something other than physical attraction alone. And I agreed with him. The last thing I wanted was to lose my own humanity.

But just a look from Edward as he reached a hand to cup my cheek, his thumb gently stroking along my jaw, caused my belly to clench..._hard_. Edward and his family made it sound like my reaction to him was because I was his mate, the whole 'crazy vampire chemistry' thing. But I was fairly sure that if I'd still been human I would have been just as uncontrollably attracted to him, though I doubted he would have had as much trouble resisting me.

The thought was depressing, and I sighed again.

"What?" he whispered, running his thumb along my lower lip as his fingers slowly traced the lines and curves of my face.

I shrugged, not wanting to mention my insecurities.

"Bella...please. You have to tell me what you're thinking." He grimaced. "I can't read your mind."

His words made me smile, lifting my mood. "Poor baby," I teased, mimicking his actions and cupping his cheek with my hand. "How unbearable to be reduced to the same limitations as the rest of us mere, er...mortals?"

Edward's eyes widened, but then he chuckled, the movement vibrating through me in delicious waves. I gasped, and his eyes darkened as, of course, he felt it too. Groaning, I let my head fall forward. "Are you absolutely, positively _sure_ you want to wait?" I asked, peering up at him from beneath my lashes, a wry smile coloring my tone.

Closing his eyes, he took a while to answer, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed repeatedly. "Yes, I'm sure," he eventually murmured.

"Well..." I muttered, pulling out of his embrace and clambering off the piano bench. "In that case, I think I need to _not_ be sitting on your lap all the time."

Edward watched me as I stalked over to the couch and sat down with a thud. Wrapping my arms around my legs, I rested my head on my knees and eyed him disconsolately. He looked shocked and more than a little bereft, which I found quite satisfying, but I hid my smile.

"Umm...Bella?" he ventured, as he stood and moved out from behind the piano before cautiously approaching the couch. "Does that mean you don't want to sit next to me or hold hands, either_?__"_

He was so easy to provoke that I considered teasing him some more, but his little-boy-lost expression was so adorable, I couldn't resist him for long. He tugged at my heartstrings, and I was reminded of how I could make this intense, complicated, and beautiful boy smile with just a touch. Reaching out a hand, which he quickly grasped, I tugged him down to sit beside me and rested my head against his shoulder. There was self-denial and then there was torture.

"What are we going to do?" I murmured, and felt the tension radiating from Edward as he pondered my question. When he didn't answer straight away, I turned my head toward him to see him studying me, his gaze adoring...but worried. It was a strange combination, but I understood exactly how he felt.

"How have you managed all this time?" I asked, and he frowned, tilting his head. "With knowing what they're all doing...being able to hear?" I whispered, motioning toward the floor above us. At the moment, all I could hear was the soft strains of an orchestral piece as someone had put on some music, so I assumed they must have all, er_...finished_ for now_._ Sighing, I wondered if wearing earbuds and playing music really loud would work. If it did, it might save Edward and I some stress in future_._

Edward shrugged. "It's unavoidable in a house full of mated vampires. I'm mostly just happy that they're happy...and I go out a lot."

"Out?"

"Yes...running, hunting, though I prefer to do that with the others...it's more fun. But I like to explore: the forests, the mountains. I'm pretty familiar with the area between here, the ocean—both oceans actually—and the Arctic Circle."

I was impressed. That was a sizeable..._area._

"I also play a lot of piano, which is a fairly effective distraction...usually," he added, his expression sheepish.

"But not tonight," I murmured.

"No," he whispered, his eyes locking with mine once again. "Not tonight."

"We'll help," Alice surprised me with her quietly-worded offer as she and Jasper entered the room. "And we're sorry we didn't think about how, er..._difficult_ our going off alone would make it for the two of you."

While I appreciated her concern, I was mortified to realize they must have overheard our conversation and knew about the trouble we were having with our self-control. It was as bad as I imagined it would have been if Charlie had walked in on Edward and me, kissing!

"Hey, don't be embarrassed," Jasper cajoled, sending a wave of comfort my way. "It's a natural part of being a newly-mated couple, or an old-mated couple for that matter," he added, smiling indulgently down at his wife.

"Bella and I are just _dating,_" Edward contradicted pointedly, while I ducked my head to hide behind my hair, cringing at Jasper's wording.

"Call it what you like, bro, but we all know what the outcome's going to be," Emmett called from where he and Rose were descending the stairs. "Edward's finally going to get some!"

Edward disappeared from beside me so quickly that I lurched sideways. Quickly righting myself, I raced to the door just behind Alice and Jasper in time to see Edward crash into Emmett, taking him over the landing and straight through a plate-glass window to land in a large rose garden at the front of the house. Emmett was strong, but after a brief, vicious tussle that totally destroyed the flower garden, Edward got the upper hand and pinned his brother face down in the dirt with his arms twisted painfully behind his back.

"I warned you what I'd do if you embarrassed Bella again," he growled close to Emmett's ear, his expression and the tone of his voice both incredibly animalistic and yet surprisingly arousing.

Stepping back, I took a deep breath to try and bring my wayward responses under control and saw Jasper eyeing me with a rueful expression.

"You can _try _fighting it," he murmured, coming to stand beside me while Edward forced a reluctant apology from his slow-to-learn brother. "But it's going to happen sooner or later...my guess is sooner. It's hard enough trying to resist the lure of human blood, pretty much impossible to deny your mate. You two are meant to be together...it's destiny."

A little surprised by Jasper's candor, I was also oddly relieved to have the subject brought out into the open...not that I automatically agreed with what he had to say. While I knew I was developing quite a soft spot for Alice's handsome, charming, and quite beguiling mate, I was getting very tired of having my choices made for me, all under the guise of my being a vampire.

"Destiny or being 'mates' is all very well," I shrugged. "But we'd kind of like to get to know one another first."

Well, that was the plan, though part of me wondered if Jasper wasn't right, and Edward and I were merely delaying the inevitable. But then, a delay was what we wanted, so that I could take some time to get to know and be _sure_ of my feelings for my new vampire boyfriend.

Jasper didn't say anything more, and Carlisle and Esme arrived just as the soft, muted light of dawn broke across the top of the trees to the east of the Cullens' home. They didn't seem surprised by the sight of the broken window, ruined garden, or their scowling, mud and rose-petal-covered sons, but neither did they look overly impressed.

"He started it," Edward and Emmett both declared simultaneously, and I snorted at the incongruity of a couple of vampires, both old enough to be my grandfather, squabbling like a couple of teenagers. Then as I realized all of a sudden that Edward was old enough to be my great-grandfather, it didn't seem quite so funny anymore.

"Clean it up. All of it," Esme ordered and both 'boys' sighed. Edward glanced my way, expecting sympathy, I think, but I just shook my head, feeling more than a little bewildered.

"Carlisle, Jasper, I'm sure Edward and Emmett would appreciate a hand," Esme continued, her tone firm in a motherly sort of way. "The girls and I would like to spend some time with Bella, and I'm thinking a break from all the, er..._testosterone_ is in order."

"Any thoughts on what you'd like to do this morning, Bella?" Esme asked when we'd left the grumbling males behind and moved into the spacious dining area. It held an enormous ten-seat table that I didn't imagine was used very often.

"Well..." Alice started to answer Esme's question for me, but Esme cut her off, kindly but firmly.

"_We_ know that _you _know what she's going to decide, but how about you let Bella tell us herself?"

Alice shrugged, and I shook my head, trying to clear it of the strange feeling that I was that _other _Alice, the one who fell down a rabbit hole. Life with the Cullens was going to take some getting used to. But Esme had been right in thinking I would like a chance to spend some time with her, Alice, and even Rosalie...and a break from the ever-present tension I experienced being around Edward. I had a feeling, though, that I wouldn't want to be apart from him for _too_ long.

"Um...I've been thinking about Charlie a lot, and how he's all alone," I answered tentatively, and to my surprise, Rose came to stand beside me and stroked my arm in a comforting way. "I'd only been with him for a couple of days before, well..._you __know..._and I hadn't gotten the chance to fill up his freezer like I'd planned. He'd used everything up from my last visit, so he was back to ordering pizza or eating at the diner. Alice mentioned that the kitchen here is fully stocked, and I'd really like to cook him a lasagne—it's his favourite dish—if you don't mind me using the kitchen."

"Of _course _we don't mind," Esme responded immediately. "And I'd be happy to take it over to him when it's done."

I smiled my appreciation while Alice fairly vibrated with excitement as she stood grinning beside me. I wasn't sure if it was because her prediction was correct or because they were finally going to get to use their designer kitchen.

"I knew it!" she squealed. "There were a few possibilities as to what you'd want to do this morning, all depending on how the, er...night went—sorry again for abandoning you guys," she offered, her expression sheepish. "But I was _fairly _certain this is how you'd end up spending the morning, so I purchased all the ingredients you'll need to make the lasagne fresh from the store yesterday. I included the mushrooms you're thinking of adding in to disguise the fact that you're the one who baked it. Charlie's going to love it, so the mushrooms were a good choice," she bubbled, leading us into the kitchen and whizzing from fridge to cupboard to pantry as she placed all the lasagne making ingredients and utensils on the countertops. Everything I needed to make my grandmother's recipe was laid out before me, right down to the fresh herbs and specific brand of pasta I always used.

"How...what?" I stammered, my head spinning as I tried to take it all in.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to her," Rosalie offered dryly with a pat to my shoulder, and I shrugged, wondering how that was possible.

When everything was arranged to Alice's satisfaction, she turned to me, beaming.

"So...are you ready to begin?" she asked, and I couldn't help smiling at her enthusiasm. I guess Alice was a morning person...as well as being psychic.

Nodding, I took a moment to look over the Cullens' amazing kitchen and check out the chef's oven and stove top. I'd never cooked in such a well-equipped kitchen before, and a part of me was almost as excited as Alice at the prospect. Another part was feeling very unsure about the process.

Of course, I'd used this recipe often enough to be confident about how it would turn out, but I was used to tasting my cooking as I went along. Jake liked to tease me that I'd end up as big as a barn one day, though he knew I didn't have a very big appetite.

Blowing out a breath, I wondered if this was such a good idea. Thinking about Charlie and Jacob at the same time was causing a pain in my chest, and my throat began to tighten.

"I know you said I can't eat normal food anymore, but can I still _taste _it?" I asked anxiously, determined to persevere and hopefully distract myself in the process. "Or will that make me sick as well?"

My hopes fell when I saw the way the three of them looked at each other.

"It's not so much that the food makes us sick," Esme explained. "It's just that we can't digest it, and we have to get rid of it, which isn't very pleasant. As for taste, you _might _be able to discern the difference between some of the foods, especially since it is so soon after your change. None of us thought to try until we'd been vampires for much longer. But generally speaking, human food doesn't agree with a vampire's palate. The boys all find it quite repulsive—it all tastes like dirt to them—but then none of them tried eating anything until years after their changes. I can tolerate the tastes and smells a little better, which I credit to my attempts to cook for a woman's shelter and orphanage a few years after my change."

"I didn't do the cooking when I was human, so I never bothered to try after becoming a vampire." Rosalie shrugged.

Turning to Alice, I saw her watching me with a bemused expression on her face. "What about you?" I asked, wondering about her experience. "Can you recognize tastes?"

"I didn't try until I came to live with Esme and Carlisle, though without any memory of human food, I had nothing to compare it to. All I know is drinking blood, and really, why would you bother with anything else?"

_Why __indeed? _I thought, shaking my head, recognizing another 'Alice' moment courtesy of the _real_ Alice. A tiny part of me still expected to wake up from my own incredible dream. If I wrote down everything that had happened to me since I had met Edward, my story would probably end up on the bestseller list...as a fantasy/horror story!

Determined to see for myself, I carefully tasted the various ingredients Alice had laid out for the lasagne. The raw meat was horrible, but that was nothing new. But even though it wasn't the same, not being fresh, the small amount of blood the meat contained whetted my appetite and caused the burn in my throat to flare as I remembered my new food source...the incredibly delicious one that came with a built in high.

"Probably not the best thing to start with," I muttered, stroking my throat as I swallowed the venom that instantly pooled in my mouth at even a hint of blood, however stale.

The tomatoes still tasted like tomatoes, _sort __of, _though as if they hadn't been washed and were covered in dirt. The cheese was revolting and I spat it out, scraping at my tongue while the girls laughed, and one whiff of the garlic and I knew I wasn't going anywhere near it. Maybe there was something to the old legends after all?

I sniffed at the coffee and hot chocolate that Esme kept on hand for guests, and while I could distinguish their aromas, they didn't affect me the way they had when I had been human. They didn't affect me at all. Part of me was saddened by this, but with the memory of blood pulsating an insistent tattoo in back of my mind, it was hard to miss something I no longer wanted when there was something else I wanted so badly.

Sighing at my losses and because I had another whole day to wait before my new appetite could be appeased, I got down to the still-pleasant task of creating a delicious meal for someone I cared about. At least some things hadn't changed. Once I'd gotten the hang of chopping, sautéing, and mixing without destroying both the foodstuffs and utensils with my ridiculously increased strength and speed, I settled happily to my task, with the girls seemingly content to observe and Esme cleaning up alongside me. It was then that Alice asked the question I 'd been too timid to broach.

"So...you, Edward, and the whole vampire-mating business," she began, quite matter-of-factly. "I know you have questions. I even know what those questions are going to be, but what I _don__'__t _know is if you'd like to ask them yourself, or just have me go straight to the answers."

Once again I looked in amazement at the strangeness that was...Alice. But I decided I'd better start off the way I wanted to continue and summoned up the courage to ask my _own _questions.

"How can you be so sure that Edward and I are really soul-mates or whatever?" I decided to jump right in and address the elephant in the room. "It's not like he's ever dated. He says he loves me..._really _loves me...but he doesn't know me any better than I know him."

An extra-loud crashing noise came from where the guys were repairing the front of the house, and I sighed. Of course, Edward could hear everything I said.

"Boys?" Esme called, and Carlisle promptly replied, "Taking them for a hunt, dear."

I snorted again, which was becoming a bad habit, but the way they interacted was all so surprisingly domesticated and family-like. Why I found that funny, I wasn't sure.

"We _know _you're mates because we've all experienced it for ourselves, and it seems obvious to us," Esme replied, her motherly tone reminding me so much of Renee, I had to look away for a minute.

"Obvious, how?" I asked when I had my emotions back under control.

"The way you look at each other, the way you gravitate toward each other...like magnets. He moves, you move. It's a very intense thing when you find your mate. Edward would sacrifice himself to protect you, and if he were threatened, you'd do the same for him," Esme continued confidently.

I wanted to deny her words, but I knew she was right. Just the thought of Edward being harmed or in danger was terrifying.

"Then there's the way you feel when you touch one another," Rosalie added. "I thought I was in love before I was changed. I was engaged, and my fiance and I had even kissed—I didn't know he was an evil jerk at the time—but none of my experiences remotely compared to how I felt when I found Emmett. He was unconscious and half dead, but I _knew _from that first touch that he was the one. It helped me resist his blood while I ran the hundred miles back to Carlisle."

Staring out the window at the cloudy morning light spreading across the field behind the house, I pictured what Rosalie was describing...Emmett almost mauled to death by a bear and her coming to his rescue. _What __a __way __to __begin __a __relationship_, I mused. But then I thought about Edward's and my beginning. It was like he was the bear and my rescuer both.

"It's that quick then?" I frowned, remembering the way I'd felt when I'd first seen Edward in the Forks High cafeteria and my realization that I was experiencing my first-ever crush.

"Pretty much instant," Alice chimed. "Though it takes a while to learn to be truly comfortable with one another, to get to know each other's likes and dislikes, and how to make each other happy."

"What about arguments? Edward said you guys rarely fight, and that if you do, you make up pretty quickly because you can't stand being away from each other."

"Or hurting each other," Esme added. "Having a mate is like that saying about having a child, where you take your heart outside your body, give it arms and legs, and have it walk around separate from you. You're very invested in making sure it stays safe."

I smiled at the picture Esme painted, but then I realized she'd inadvertently brought attention to one of the _other _elephants in the room. Not that I was about to navigate that particular minefield.

"So..." I ducked my head shyly as I busied myself with layering the lasagne. "How did you guys manage the whole _waiting_ thing?_"_

"We didn't," all three of them replied together, and my head shot up in surprise, which was quickly followed by mortification.

"Oh...okay." I spun toward the stove, almost emptying the contents of the casserole dish on the floor in my haste.

"Well, we waited long enough to get married, of course," Esme added, and I spun back to face them.

"Married? After how long?"

"Carlisle and I lasted four days," Esme replied, and my mouth fell open.

"But...how? Weren't you a newborn?" I puzzled. "How could you go to a church and be around people?"

"I couldn't, so we had our own private wedding at home with Edward as witness."

"Who married you?" I frowned, trying to imagine a minister willing to marry a couple of vampires, in particular one with blazing red eyes!

"Edward read the vows for us, but we made our own promises to one another. It wasn't exactly legal, but then, neither is being a vampire." She chuckled. "I was battling my crazed newborn urges, of course, but it was still lovely. I'd already had the proper church wedding and that hadn't exactly turned out to be a match made in heaven. All I wanted was to be with Carlisle, forever."

Esme's smile was contented, her story really quite romantic, but still...marriage after knowing each other only four days?

"Of course, I'd known Carlisle since I was sixteen and he set my broken leg, and I'd harbored a secret crush on him all those years," Esme added, and suddenly her story didn't sound _quite_ so rash.

"What about you and Jasper?" I turned to ask Alice, who was sitting on the island counter in the middle of the kitchen, swinging her legs like a child. "How long did you know each other before you got married?"

"Well...that's a tricky one to answer," Alice said with a soft smile and a faraway expression. "_I__'__d _known Jasper and had been waiting for him for years, but he only knew me for three days before we married. We _did_ talk non-stop for those three days, from the moment we met to just before our registry-office wedding when we separated to change into the clothes I'd already purchased for the occasion. The ceremony was sweet, simple and all we wanted."

"And Jasper was okay with the two of you getting married after just three days?" I asked, bewildered by her disclosures.

Alice smiled smugly. "He would have walked across hot coals for me. He _did _learn to survive on animal blood alone, and has basically worshipped the ground I walk on from five minutes after we met. The three days was to give _me _a chance to tell him everything I wanted to say, as I knew we wouldn't be doing much talking once the wedding ceremony was over...not for a long time!"

Esme and Rosalie laughed, and I couldn't help but smile, even if this was the most oddly intimate conversation I'd ever been a part of.

Naturally, we turned to Rosalie when Alice finished telling her tale, but I wondered if she'd want to share her's and Emmett's story. Edward had told me a _little _about Rose's fiancé, and I couldn't imagine her wanting anything to do with marriage after being betrayed like that.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

"Emmett and I had the biggest wedding we could put together in under a week," Rosalie said, smiling at the memory. "My dress was stunning, the best money could buy. The ring, the decorations, even the cake I insisted on, not that any of us could eat it, of course, were all spectacular. Carlisle officiated—he is a minister's son, after all—Edward played the piano, and Esme stood in as my bridesmaid. It was just lovely, though we've had much fancier weddings with much larger guest lists, of course...about one every ten years, since then. I wanted to renew our vows sooner than that after our first wedding, but it took almost a decade before we got over our honeymoon phase and were able to focus enough to really do it justice."

Blinking rapidly, it took me a moment to process Rosalie's blithe and somewhat shocking words.

"And Emmett? He was okay about you guys getting married after only knowing each other a matter of days, and able to control the whole 'newborn' thing?" I couldn't help picturing Emmett as a particularly out-of-control newborn, considering how outrageously he behaved in general.

"Emmett's Emmett," Rosalie answered dryly. "He wanted the honeymoon, and I told him the only way he was going to get it was by marrying me first and behaving himself at the wedding."

I nodded, bewildered by the nonchalance with which they'd all entered into such a huge commitment. Hadn't any of these guys ever heard of divorce? Though, I guessed that the divorce rate was probably pretty low among mated vampire couples. But why marry at all? It wasn't as if they had family around to disapprove, but then I thought of the eras when these events would have occurred when sex before marriage had been a major social taboo. At least I didn't have _that_ pressure to worry about, as times were different now, and nobody blinked an eye at a young couple moving in together before marriage. Moving in together when the couple in question were both only _seventeen _would have raised some eyebrows, but I didn't see that we were going to have much choice. The girls' stories didn't exactly bode well for Edward's and my success when it came to practicing abstinence.

Deciding I might as well tackle the remaining elephant, I checked on the lasagne and then busied myself making a salad to accompany it.

"So...I'm guessing vampires don't need to worry about contraception," I said with my eyes fixed on the cutting board in front of me.

Flinching at the sound of shattering glass, I spun around to see Rosalie standing with the remains of a crystal salad bowl in her hands. The pain-filled expression on her face had me worried that she'd cut herself until I remembered that wasn't possible.

"Rosalie?" I murmured, but she shook her head, forestalling me from saying anything more.

"I...I have to leave," she said her tone stricken, and she ran from the room leaving shards of crystal spinning in her wake as they scattered across the tiled kitchen floor.

"Was that because of what I said?" I asked, and Esme gave me a sad smile.

"It's not your fault, Bella. Rosalie has never come to terms with the fact that vampires, as you rightly figured out, cannot bear children. It continues to be a sore spot with her even after all these years."

"Only because she refuses to let it go," Alice said with a sigh. "And the longer she holds onto it, the harder it will be for her to ever move on."

I shook my head, confused.

"The longer we hold onto a certain way of thinking, the more entrenched that way becomes," Alice explained. "For all these years, Rosalie has refused to let go of her bitterness over not being able to have children, and so it grows worse."

"Doesn't it bother the two of you?" I asked hesitantly, hoping I wasn't treading on any more toes. I felt awful for upsetting Rosalie, and I hoped she wouldn't hold it against me as I had a feeling vampire grudges could last a long, long time.

Alice shrugged and spread her hands. "It's not a future I ever envisioned, so it doesn't upset me. I'm happy with the family I have," she said, gesturing around her, "and more than happy with Jasper, though I am very excited about having you as a new sister."

Feeling a little shy, but surprisingly pleased at the thought of having sisters, I realized that I no longer felt quite so upset at the thought of being included in the Cullen family...not that I would ever forget my own.

Looking to Esme for her response, she took a moment to answer, busying herself with washing the remaining dishes at a sedentary, human pace which she seemed to find soothing.

"I had a child, a little boy, but he died. I think Edward already told you that?" She looked up to catch my eye, and I nodded. "Of course, I would have loved to have Carlisle's children, but it's just not possible. I was so happy when I realized that Carlisle and I could be together that I chose to focus on what I had gained, rather than what I'd lost. Besides, Carlisle already had a son in Edward, who was happy enough to have me mother him. And Carlisle has a knack for drawing others into the fold. If I'd been a human mother, my children would have all grown up and left home long ago. Of course, they might have given me grandchildren, which would have been lovely, but this way, I get to enjoy having them around indefinitely."

I smiled but was a little uncertain about Esme's sanity in making such a statement. A house filled with perpetual teenagers didn't exactly sound like bliss to me!

"We do sometimes live apart, as couples," Alice added, accurately reading my bemused expression. "But we enjoy one another's company so much that we prefer living communally, well...most of the time." She giggled. "I think Edward could do without Emmett's company at the moment, but they're normally the best of friends."

"What about you, Bella? Are you concerned at the thought of not being able to have children?" Esme asked gently. She was probably worried I was going to have another one of my monumental meltdowns, but I shrugged and tried to keep my tone light.

"It does make me a bit sad to think I won't be able to have children of my own, but I _am _only seventeen, so it's not like I was in any hurry. I have plenty of other things to worry about at the moment, though I suppose it might be something I think about in the future," I answered honestly, trying not to imagine a little bronze-haired boy perched on my hip, knowing I had more than enough grief to cope with without borrowing future sorrow.

Thinking about Edward, well, the babies that Edward and I _wouldn__'__t_ be having, drew my attention to the angsty feeling that had been growing worse for some time. The lasagne still had a little time left to cook, but I couldn't seem to keep still, my legs jiggling restlessly.

Alice chuckled and I glanced her way.

"What?" I asked.

"You," she replied, giggling some more. "You're just so adorable, Bella. Most vampires have to _learn_ how to fidget and move around to look more human; otherwise they stand around like statues. But not you! Looking human comes so naturally to you."

I wasn't quite sure how to reply to that. I _had _been human for almost eighteen years, after all, and a vampire for only a week, so wasn't sure why acting human was such an accomplishment. Though I sure felt jittery.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," I said, rubbing my arms while feeling more and more uncomfortable. "I'm not thirsty, well, no more than usual."

"You need Edward," Alice replied, smiling. "You've been without your mate for as long as you can tolerate at this stage in your relationship. He'll be feeling the same...worse probably. The boys get it soooo bad in the beginning; it's quite funny, really."

My mouth dropped open at her words. Was she serious?

"How long can you go without being together?" I asked when it didn't seem like she was joking.

"Longer than you two," she giggled again. "A day or two if we _have_ to, but why put yourself through the stress?"

"Why indeed?" Jasper agreed as he whizzed into the room, picking Alice up off the counter and spinning her around in his arms, before kissing her soundly as she slowly slid down his body, her feet not quite touching the floor.

In a flash, Carlisle and Esme were similarly embraced at the kitchen sink, and through the window, I saw Rosalie and Emmett walking toward the house arm-in-arm.

Inexplicably drawn, I turned toward the dining room and saw Edward standing watching me from just inside the door. He looked as miserable as I felt, and I quickly crossed to his side.

"Hey," he murmured, seeming hesitant.

"Hey yourself," I replied, wondering why I wasn't already in his arms.

"Sorry about losing it before, over Emmett," he offered soberly, and I realized that he must think I was upset with him about the fight.

"I thought it was funny." I shrugged, reaching out my hand, and before I could blink I was in his arms and he was kissing me for all he was worth.

Despite all the craziness that had become my life, there was one thing of which I was certain...Edward Cullen's kisses were worth a whole lot, and I happily stood in Edward's embrace in the middle of his parents' designer kitchen, one of _four _amorous couples lost in a blissful haze.

Until Alice gasped, and Edward wrenched himself from my arms, spinning me behind him as he faced the front of the house.

"What? What is it?" I demanded, my voice almost lost amongst all the panicked cries.

As soon as there was silence, Alice and Edward replied in unison. "The wolves are coming!"

_~OB~_

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are always appreciated.**_

_**xxx TLSue**_

_**PS Amazing Fic Recs!**_

_**I just discovered a wonderful author, Sherryola. She saw Once Bitten rec'd by Content1 at the end of her incredible, Sins Of My Past (thank you April!) and came over to have a look. Then the darling girl reviewed almost every chapter on her read through and is going to recommend Once Bitten to her many readers. Intrigued, I went to have a look at her story, Seeing Bella and was instantly hooked. **_

_**Check out Seeing Bella at .net/s/6579398/1/Seeing_Bella **__**and Sins Of My Past at .net/s/7423404/1/Sins_of_My_Past**_


	24. Suspicions

_**Stephenie Meyer is Queen of the Love Triangle. I'm an Edward/Bella kind of girl. Oh…and I don't own Twilight and I don't like love triangles!**_

_**I'd like to say a huge thank you to Sherryola for the amazing recommendation she gave Once Bitten on her latest chapter of Seeing Bella. In the last few days, Once Bitten has received an extra 500 visitors, hundreds of new alerts/favorites and over 200 reviews. Wow! Thank you so much.**_

_**Extra special thanks to the following readers for reviewing on their read through of Once Bitten: IThinkINeededThat, Camilla10, Gumibear26, KezCullen, Detochkina, Empy08 and ageise24 (sorry if I've forgotten anyone) - you guys are great. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten my regular reviewers who've been faithfully supporting this story from the beginning. I can't tell you how much your encouragement means to me. #grateful smile#**_

_**My new story, A Forbidden Love, has also received hundreds of new alerts this week (my poor inbox is utterly overwhelmed) and is starting to get interesting if you'd like to check it out.**_

_**Thanks Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro for being such amazing betas and wonderful friends. So glad I found you both! **__**To my awesome prereader, Content1 - what would I do without you? And to hotwardfangirl, we might not have been able to come to a consensus on this chapter, but I really appreciate your suggestions...they make this story so much better. **_

_**Posted: Friday October 21st 2011**_  
><em><strong>Words: 4398<strong>_

Ch 24

Suspicions

Jacob POV

After the past week I was no longer afraid of death. Hell couldn't be any worse than this.

The rest of the pack were convinced that Bella wasn't my imprint, and on an instinctual level, I guess I knew that they were right. But how could I love anyone more than I loved Bella or be more heartbroken than I was at losing her? She might not be my imprint, but for as long as I could remember she'd been my soul mate, my best friend, my future.

The accident at the school wasn't the beginning of the horror but a continuation of the nightmare that had begun seven months earlier with what I thought was a really bad dose of the flu: fever, crabby mood, feeling like I was about to tear my way out of my skin.

Ha! Little had I known

The first time I phased, I thought I'd gone nuts or maybe been body-snatched by a monster. When I'd finally calmed down enough to understand what was happening to me, it didn't bring any relief—_I __couldn__'__t __change __back__—_and the next two weeks had been the worst of my life, well…before Forks High got blown to smithereens. The noise of the other pack members in my mind had nearly driven me insane, and then the new reality I was introduced to—my _purpose__—_to keep the tribe safe from the filthy bloodsuckers drawn to our region by the overcast skies, had just about finished me off. The demons lived in the town, worked in the hospital, and attended high school! How the hell Sam could have agreed to such an arrangement was beyond me. Trusting freaking serial killers to keep their word and not harm the humans right beneath their noses was an exercise in stupidity as far as I was concerned.

But Sam was Alpha, not me, though I could have been. It had seemed like the right thing to do, leaving Sam in charge. Hell, I was only sixteen! But I couldn't help thinking that if I'd taken on the role when it was offered, Bella might still be alive. There's no way I would have let that treaty stand.

_Filthy bloodsuckers living in Forks right under our noses and we can't even touch them! _

_Oh, __give __it __a __rest, __Jake! _Paul thought my way, and just like that, I was no longer alone. I'd avoided phasing as much as possible over the past week, trying to keep the pack out of my head and avoid their pity. But running the boundaries was a time-consuming task and required every man…or _wolf__…_to do his part. A broken heart didn't absolve me of my duty to the tribe.

_But __Bella __was __alive!_ I knew it—in my gut, in my heart—and she needed me. If they thought I was going to give up on my best friend, the girl I'd loved in one way or another from as early as I could remember, they had another think coming.

_She__'__s __not __alive, __Jake__…__she __died __in __the __fire. _Paul persisted, his thoughts telling me he thought it was time I got over my denial.

_The __hell __she __did! _The growl that accompanied my thoughts curled my lip, revealing the canines that were sharp enough to tear through vampire skin…and anything else for that matter.

_Well, where is she then, Jake? Tell me that? _

Phasing back, I let Paul overtake me, waving him on. I'd been out here for most of the night and was due for a break, but I'd just eaten into my limited free time by phasing so far from home. It would take me ages to walk all the way back, but at least I'd be alone with my thoughts while I did.

I didn't know what had happened to Bella, but I had my suspicions…suspicions I couldn't bear to voice aloud or even let form into thoughts, well…not thoughts that anyone else could hear.

I just didn't buy that the bronze-headed bloodsucker got 'caught' in the explosion and then burned up before the others realized he was trapped. Nothing short of an entire building falling on top of him could have pinned him down, if that. There's no way those coldblooded, soulless demons would have wasted time saving school kids like they claimed, while one of their own was slowly burning to ash. But if he hadn't died, why would they say that he had? Because it was all a smokescreen—a cover up. And what could they have to cover up but something to do with Bella's death?

I was betting that the one who had supposedly been "killed" was running around that house of theirs with red eyes, for Sam had told us that the vamps who fed off humans didn't have golden eyes like the Cullens.

But my one remaining hope, that Bella was still alive and being held captive by the bloodsuckers, seemed improbable. The main problem with my theory was that I couldn't think of any good reason for the bloodsuckers to keep a human girl prisoner…unless she wasn't _human _anymore.

And there it was, the fear that outweighed my hope, mainly because this particular theory _did _make sense. What else could they be trying to hide, other than a vampire that wasn't ash like they claimed and a new vampire that shouldn't exist?

"Only Bella," I grumbled, fighting back the tears that were too damned close to the surface. I'd never known a more accident-prone magnet for trouble, or a more beautiful, talented, caring, wonderful girl who owned me, heart and soul.

My stomach grumbled, and I realized I'd missed breakfast. But if I phased back and got a move-on, I could make it in time for morning tea and some of Emily's oversized muffins. As soon as I phased and heard the chaos going on in the pack's minds, I forgot about food and hightailed it as fast as I could, and I was _fast. _There were some things about being a wolf that were pretty cool, and I made it to Sam's and Emily's house in no time. The others had already phased back and were waiting for me, having heard my approach.

"There's been another killing, a millworker in the next county," Sam explained without preamble.

"The authorities found the body of that backpacker from last week yet?" I asked, and Sam shook his head.

"If Chief Swan was patrolling, he would have picked up the clues we put out to lead him to the body, but he's not back in action until tomorrow," Sam replied, clearly annoyed with the delay.

"Geez…two in under a week," Jared muttered. "This leech is active."

"Leeches_,__"_ Quil and Embry called out in unison as they approached from where they'd just phased on the edge of the forest. "We followed their trails away from the kill, and there are at least two of them, maybe three. A couple of the scents were all entwined, like the ones Paul smelled in the Cullens' yard."

"Sick bastards," Jared growled, and I had to agree. Slaughtering some poor human and then making out afterwards.

"Do you reckon it was the same two that Paul scented?" I asked, hoping against hope that this was the break I was looking for.

Quil shrugged. "Dunno…I might be able to hear Paul's thoughts, but I can't smell what he smells."

"Thank God!" Embry joked. "Have you seen how often he smells his own butt when he's wolfin' it?"

The others laughed, but not Sam as he approached me, his expression as stoic as ever, though I detected an extra hint of determination.

"I've told Paul to check out the scents and make sure they're not the same as the ones he smelled at the Cullens'. Quil and Embry, you head back there to cover him," Sam ordered and they quickly obeyed.

"We going to check out the bloodsuckers' place?" I asked, unable to disguise the hope in my voice.

"Not the way you're thinking. I doubt they'll be leaving it empty again in a hurry after _Paul__'__s_ little stunt," Sam replied with emphasis. We both knew it had been my idea, and Sam was still pissed with me.

"Well, what then?" I muttered belligerently. I was so sick and tired of Sam pandering to the Cullens. Just because the doc—how was that for an oxymoron…a vampire treating humans—helped Emily after Sam had phased too close and sliced her face open, he acted like the monster was a freakin' saint.

"I'm going to go talk to them," Sam surprised me by saying. "Ask if they know anything about the killings and check out the scent of their visitors while I'm at it. The doc's been helpful enough in the past, discouraging rogue leeches from staying in the area. He promised me their guests only kill animals, but I'm not naïve Jake. I might be grateful for what he did for Emily, but I know what they are, and I can guess how quickly they could revert to their true natures if tempted."

I nodded, feeling relieved and annoyingly emotional at Sam's words, having to look away for a second to pull myself together.

"You coming with me?" Sam asked when I didn't speak.

"Try stopping me," I growled and he laughed, before slapping me hard on the shoulder.

It felt good to be back on better terms with my Alpha…and finally doing something about those damned bloodsuckers. I _knew _the Cullens were responsible for whatever had happened to Bella, whether it was her death, capture, or transformation into something I couldn't even bear to imagine.

_~OB~_

EPOV

"How long have we got?" Jasper demanded, and Alice scanned ahead, trying to work out the exact moment when the future disappeared.

"Twenty-seven minutes," she replied, confident in her prediction but hating that her visions of what was going to happen _after _then were blocked.

Jasper nodded, taking charge. "We need the Denalis back here."

"I'm on it," Emmett responded. Having just entered with Rose, he turned back around and started running to where we'd seen them on our morning hunt. They'd been enjoying a small patch of sunshine a few miles from the house.

"Bella and I will go to the basement, but don't let them inside the house. My scent is all over the place," I practically growled.

"Calm down, Edward. You haven't even been 'dead' for a week. It's not like your scent would dissipate that quickly," Jasper pointed out, calming me a little with his observation. Holding Bella close, I did my best to regain my composure.

"Sam hasn't come inside before—the concentrated smell of so many vampires is too strong for him," Carlisle added. "But I suspect he'll want to this time to be sure you're not here…or Bella. I know it's not a _comfortable _option, but I think it might be wisest if I invite them in, so as to dispel any notion that we are hiding something."

I growled for real this time but refrained from further comment. As much as I wanted to argue, I couldn't deny the logic of Carlisle's conclusion. But the thought of wolves coming _inside _the house, of them being that close to Bella, had my hackles permanently raised. I found myself wishing Emmett were here, knowing full well how he would react to Carlisle's proposition. Emmett's having been almost torn apart by a bear when he was a human had translated into a considerable wariness of the wolves…not that any of us blamed him, as we all knew that they were capable of doing the same thing to a vampire. But if Carlisle insisted on this course of action, it might be wisest to have Emmett remain outside_._

Seeing my distress, Esme crossed to my side, embracing both Bella and I in her arms. Bella startled at the sudden move but then seemed to relax, enjoying the comfort offered.

"Now don't you two go worrying," Esme murmured in the motherly tone that normally made me smile, but which I couldn't help appreciating on this particular occasion. "I've got some industrial-strength air-freshener that will camouflage any suspicious scents, though the wolves will be expecting _some_ new scents. We'll just tell them that a couple of the Denalis have left already, if they ask to meet the owners."

"I'd be surprised if they went so far as to make demands," Carlisle offered. "But I'm hoping the more transparent we appear in our dealings, the fewer suspicions they will continue to harbor."

"How about I spread some of the oil around that Jasper made for you, as well? That way they'll smell the other 'scent' we've been using," Rose offered, and I smiled at her in gratitude. My family's support meant a lot to me, Rosalie's in particular. Her thoughts told me that she was as determined to keep Bella safe as I was…well, maybe not _quite _as determined. Bella was my mate, after all.

Safely ensconced in the basement while the others prepared the house for our unwelcome visitors, I held Bella close, receiving as much comfort from the contact as I hopefully gave.

"Do you think Jake will come?" she asked in a small voice as we waited for the minutes to count down, and the peaceful feeling vanished.

Of course the dog would come, I thought, barely suppressing a growl. His sending Paul to prowl around was proof he hadn't yet accepted the 'facts.'

"We'll find out soon enough," I replied, attempting to relax the muscles that had tensed at Bella's words.

"But I won't be able to hear what's happening with the door closed and the sound-proofing," Bella grumbled and then lifted her face to mine. "Will you tell me what's going on…what you hear from everyone's thoughts?"

"Of course," I murmured, stroking her back soothingly, knowing that whatever I relayed would be heavily edited to avoid causing her any undue distress. I _hated _seeing the worry in her eyes and the lines that creased her beautiful brow.

We didn't have to wait long before I locked in to Jasper's and Carlisle's view of the pack leader, Sam, and two others approaching the house. They were bare-chested, having phased in the trees not far from the house and changed into their ubiquitous cut-off denim shorts. As I'd known he would be, Jacob was one of them. I lifted the third one's name from the others' thoughts…Jared, Sam's second-in-command, though I gathered from Sam's thoughts that it wouldn't be long before Jacob took that role.

"Carlisle," Sam called as they neared the house. "We need to talk. Can we approach?"

"Of course," Carlisle responded calmly, keeping up the cooperative front that we'd reluctantly agreed to, though Emmett wasn't the only one that glowered at Sam's peremptory tone. I was proud of my family for containing their rage at the dog's insolence. "Would you like to come inside, or if you prefer we can sit out here on the porch?"

Sam looked surprised by Carlisle's offer, and I heard from his thoughts that he'd expected to have to inveigle his way into the house to check out the varied scents. Jacob's surprisingly accurate suspicions were at the forefront of his mind, his belief that we were somehow responsible for Bella's death or disappearance absolute. While Sam didn't share his pack mate's beliefs, he hoped that getting a chance to look around would dispel Jacob's skepticism regarding the accepted version of events.

"Edward, what's happening?" Bella asked, and I smiled at the very human way she reached up on tiptoe to whisper in my ear.

Quickly informing her of what I'd heard and seen—up to a point—I then continued listening in, relating the relative information as I received it.

"The air-freshener's doing its job, helping to mask our scents…and everything else. Between the chemical smell and their reaction to being around so many vampires, they're having a difficult time discerning anything, their noses are so irritated." I couldn't keep the humor from my voice, but Bella didn't seem to see the funny side.

"And Jake?" she asked. "Can you tell how he is?"

"He's fine," I lied, growling the words. Her friend was far from fine, and I shied away from the pain I sensed behind his thoughts…pain I never wanted to experience for myself. Jasper had been taken aback by the intensity of emotion radiating off the towering boy whose transformation had accelerated his growth, forcing ten years of maturing to occur within a matter of months.

The tone of my voice gave me away, and Bella cried out, "What's wrong with him?" Breaking out of my embrace, she took a step toward the door, but I caught her arm, holding her in place.

"You can't go out there, Bella," I practically snarled, and her eyes flew to my face.

"What are you hiding from me?" she demanded, tugging her arm and dragging me closer to the door.

"Nothing!" I hissed. "It's not safe, that's all. They mustn't see you!"

I thought she was going to resist, but then she sagged back against me with a strangled sob.

"I don't believe you," she whispered in a small voice. "There's something you're not telling me."

Sighing, I ran a hand raggedly through my hair and contemplated _which_ truth I should reveal. I'd have to tell her something to explain my behavior.

"I'm sorry; you're right," I murmured soothingly and she turned to face me, her expression hurt and wary. "I'm just jealous, Bella. I know how much he means to you, and I find it very _difficult _when I hear the concern you have for him in your voice."

"Oh…" Bella stared at me, nonplussed. "But I told you he's just a friend…my _best _friend, but more like a brother than anything else."

"I know. It's just, he doesn't feel that way about you, and it's hard for me to…_listen,__" _I admitted. "He's not doing very well, Bella, and his pain makes me think about how I would feel if I were to lose you. The thought makes me go a little crazy. I'm sorry."

I hadn't meant to say so much, and I waited for Bella's reaction. The last thing we needed was a war with the wolves, but if Bella revealed herself, that's exactly what we would have. I'd do anything—_anything__—_to protect her, as would my family. She was one of us now in every way…and everything to me.

For a tense moment, I wasn't sure what she was going to do, but then, sighing, she settled back into my arms and I refocused on the events occurring above us. Sam and Carlisle were discussing the activities of the nomads that had invaded our territory, and I heard from Sam's thoughts that he was reasonably confident, having taken in the scents of the vampires present, that none of our group were the culprits. He'd wait for Paul's assessment to be doubly sure.

Jacob, unfortunately, was far too perceptive for one so young, and unreasonably persistent—though I couldn't help but admire him for his tenacity. If I'd been in his shoes, not that the pack ever seemed to wear any, I wouldn't have given up either. On one thing I could agree with the young Quileute: Bella was a prize worth fighting for…worth everything.

"Jacob's suspicious about the cooking smells and has asked for a tour of the house, of all things," I relayed to Bella. Her young friend certainly wasn't lacking in audacity, I'd give him that.

"Lasagne, Bella's favorite," the boy muttered when my parents showed him into the kitchen. Jasper and Alice remained behind in the living area with Sam and Jared, who continued to discuss the issue of the nomads. Sam was deliberately prolonging their agony, so to speak, to give Jacob the opportunity he wanted to check out the rest of the house.

"Oh, is it?" Esme responded ingenuously to Jacob's comment. "I baked it for Chief Swan as I remembered him saying it was _his_ favorite when he visited one time. I was planning on taking it over this afternoon."

"Why?" Jacob demanded rudely, but neither Carlisle nor Esme reacted to his tone. I, on the other hand, couldn't suppress the snarl that erupted from my throat. How dare the insolent puppy speak to my parents that way?

"Because we know how it feels to lose a beloved family member," Esme answered quietly, making what I thought was a herculean allowance for the boy, as she rightly perceived that he was grieving the loss of his friend. "And I wanted to do something, however small, to show the chief that we're thinking of him."

Jacob wasn't convinced by the compassion in Esme's tone, but he was confused by her seeming sincerity. Not having spent time with any of us before, he was finding our 'pseudo humanity,' as he thought of it, disconcerting.

The rest of Jacob's tour went without a hitch, though I couldn't completely suppress a growl when my parents showed him my room. While I understood their desire to keep the peace with the wolves and allay any suspicions, they were going too far in their pretense at civility, as far as I was concerned. Next thing they'd be asking the damn dog if he wanted to move in!

"What is it? What's wrong?" Bella whispered, sensing my anger.

I shook my head. "Nothing," I growled. "Jacob's in my room."

"Oh…" Bella murmured while stroking my back, and my anger waned. She was mine. The boy was devastated, as I would be if I lost her. I guess I could make allowances.

"It looks lived in," Jacob's suspicions returned as he sniffed the air, my scent still heavy in the room.

"We're not ready to change anything," Carlisle's sober tone and bleak expression caught the young wolf's attention. Even Carlisle's famous patience was running thin with the wolves' impertinence. He'd decided to remind them of his own 'loss.' "Edward was my son and very good friend for almost a century," he added, laying it on a bit thick, I thought, by turning away, with a hand to his chest. But then I picked up his thoughts. He was not relying on artifice but feeling genuinely overcome just at the _idea_ of losing me. He was also using the moment to control the anger he felt at the situation. Having Sam come to the house had been one thing. This invasion was another. It defied all reasonable logic that a war hadn't begun. Carlisle was the reason…the mediating factor…our and the wolves' calming influence.

My own throat tightened at the love I felt for this man…my creator…and all of my family. The thought of losing any of them was completely untenable.

"He was my son, too," Esme whispered, turning into Carlisle's embrace, and Jacob had the grace to look suitably chagrined. His thoughts were a tumult of confusion. Nothing was adding up in his mind: the house, the way we treated one another, the obvious love between our family members. The contradictions were causing his resolve to waver, and he made his way toward the door, excusing himself and thanking my parents for showing him their home.

Quickly relating these events to Bella, I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but then Jacob passed the bathroom that Bella had used on several occasions, and all hell broke loose in his thoughts.

"Damn," I muttered, and Bella groaned in frustration.

"Tell me!" she demanded, her tone brooking no argument.

"He's picked up the strawberry scent of your shampoo," I muttered, and she froze, fear written on her face.

_Finally_, I thought, _she's starting to understand the seriousness of the situation_. But then she spoke, and her words threw me completely.

"Please, tell me you won't hurt Jake, even if he guesses?" she pleaded for her young friend, my natural enemy, and I wanted to tear down the door and confront him immediately, reason, expedience no longer enough for me to maintain my self control. But then I saw the expression on Bella's face, and I suppressed my rage.

Breathing hard, it took me a moment to answer. "I promise," I managed to hiss.

"What's wrong?" Esme asked of the young wolf who was struggling to contain his fury. The scent was enough for his suspicions to not only return, but for him to believe they'd been confirmed and that Bella had been or was being kept somewhere in the house.

Jasper picked up on the strong emotions and bounded up the stairs with Alice in tow, Sam and the others close behind. While she was unable to use her gift as she normally would to predict which outcome would be successful, Alice was not without intelligence or perception, which she used to good effect.

"Oh, you poor boy," she murmured, suppressing her natural antipathy and approaching the giant that took up most of the hallway as if he were a frightened, wounded dog…an apt analogy in many ways. "You've noticed it, too."

"Noticed what?" Sam demanded, pushing his way through to see Jacob's entire body vibrating. "What the hell's going on? What did you do to upset him?"

"Nothing," Alice continued, her sweet voice amazingly calm considering the catastrophe that looked about to unfold. We didn't need her visions to know that if Jacob phased inside the house, it would create more than just chaos.

"Jacob's smelled the strawberry shampoo and body wash that Rose and I sometimes use. We noticed the day that Bella came to school that she used a similar scent," Alice continued, and a tense silence met her explanation.

I didn't think Jacob was going to buy it, but the genuine concern and sympathy he saw on Alice's and Esme's faces battered his defences, and the firmly spoken words of his alpha, ordering him to stand down, took effect. The fight literally drained out of his body, allowing the grief he'd locked away behind his anger to overwhelm him, and he collapsed against the wall.

"Bella!" His howl of agony tore right through me, and I thanked Jasper's foresight for the soundproof walls that protected the girl I loved from hearing her friend's pain.

_~~OB~_

_**Thanks so much for reading.**_

_**Reviews let me know you're out there and what you think, as well as encouraging me to keep working away on this story…writing…editing…rewriting. Sigh….**_

_**xxx TLSue**_


	25. Fine!

_**Thanks to Stephenie Meyer for Twilight. My life would be very dull without it. LOL! **_

_**Extra special thanks to my amazing readers and reviewers for the 300 reviews I've received for the last two chapters and the hundreds of new alerts and favorites for Once Bitten. Wow! My inbox will probably never recover, but I'm one happy fanfic writer at the moment. To add to my amazement, my new AH story, A Forbidden Love, has received 200 reviews this week as well. :D **_

_**Thanks to Camilla10 for recommending Once Bitten on A Different Forest – that was very kind of you. Welcome to the readers from ADF.**_

_**And, as always, thanks to my lovely betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, and my terrific prereaders, Content1 and hotwardfangirl, for their invaluable help.**_

_**Posted: Saturday October 29th 2011  
>Words: 3467<strong>_

Chapter 25

Fine!

BPOV

"Bella, are you okay?"

If Edward asked me that one more time I was going to scream or…or…_hit_ him. The old Bella would never have considered doing such a thing, but the new me was seriously tempted. I was just so angry with him. How dare he try to keep things from me, especially something as important as what was happening to my best friend?

We'd had our first real fight when I'd found out. Well, _I__'__d _fought, yelling and even throwing things. But when I'd buried my new leather-bound copy of _Persuasion_ a good ten inches deep in the concrete wall of my room, I'd been so shocked that I'd stopped. Edward hadn't said much, other than that he was only trying to protect me and that he was sorry.

I turned to face him from where I'd been standing staring out the window of the music room, my arms wrapped tightly around my waist. His beautiful face was drawn with worry and sadness, and I sighed. My hand lifted—almost of its own accord—reaching toward him, and he flashed to my side, grasping my fingers like he was Leonardo De Caprio and I was that stupid girl off the Titanic. I mean, really, she could have made room for him on the floating plank. It might have taken a couple of tries to get it stable, but surely that would have been better than letting the so-called love of her life freeze to death right before her eyes!

"I'm fine," I lied for the umpteenth time, and Edward's eyebrows shot up to disappear behind the hair that fell haphazardly across his forehead. Unable to resist, I reached up to smooth away the frown lines that marred his perfect brow and brush my fingers through his bronzed locks. His eyes fluttered closed, his sweet breath brushing against my wrist with his sigh. Then he reached up to take my hand from his hair and bring it to his lips before softly kissing my palm. This time, _my_ eyes closed. Actually, I think they may have rolled back in my head a little as bursts of pleasure traveled from where his warm lips touched my skin, tingled down my arm, and then radiated outward on a joyful exploration of my body.

_This __boy__'__s __lips __should __be __registered __as __a __lethal __weapon_, I mused. Then I giggled, picturing my dad locking Edward away in a gun closet and hiding the key…permanently.

Edward cocked his head, puzzled by my laugh, and my smile faded.

"Okay, maybe I'm not fine," I admitted, my voice resigned. I'd never been a big one for talking about my feelings, preferring to think things through by myself, or _sleep on it,_ as my mom had always recommended. But sleep was no longer an option, and time to myself meant time away from Edward, which was problematic.

Becoming a vampire was like being turned into a hardcore addict overnight. Well, strictly speaking, over three nights. The burn in my throat, the overwhelming thirst for blood, and then the unbelievable rush when I got to satisfy the craving…let's just say, I totally got the whole 'personal brand of heroin' reference and I was only talking deer blood, not human or my _singer_. I didn't dare imagine what _that _must be like!

And then there was Edward.

I'd seen girls fall so hard for a guy that they put every other aspect of their life on hold, or disregarded it completely. They couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, dumped their friends, stopped studying, ignored their family, and all because they had a crush on some guy who might not even know they were alive! Consequently, I wasn't quite as quick as the Cullens to assume that my reaction to Edward was solely due to the whole vampire mating thing. But I had to admit that my overwhelming response to him seemed even _more _intense than the worst teenage crush I'd ever observed.

Time spent apart from him was something I could endure in terms of hours, if not minutes, and that was only as long as I had something else to distract me. Even now, when I was incredibly angry with him for not telling me about what had happened with Jake—I'd had to find that out from Emmett whose lack of a filter had come in handy—I still couldn't bring myself to do the normal, "I've just had a big argument with my boyfriend thing" and storm off. Earlier, he'd offered to leave, and I'd told him to stop being an idiot. He might enjoy punishing himself, but he'd be hurting us both, and I really wasn't in the mood.

Edward released my hand and opened his arms, and like the infatuated fool that I was, I totally caved. Melting into his embrace, I soaked up the comfort of his touch like he was some _other _sort of drug, but one even more highly addictive than blood. I could last twenty-four hours without hunting—_just_—but the thought of a day without Edward was too painful to imagine.

"So…" he murmured against my hair, gently swaying me in his arms. "You going to elaborate on the, 'Okay, maybe I'm not fine' comment, or was that it?"

I couldn't help smiling and pulled back to look up at his bemused expression.

"It really kills you, doesn't it? The fact that you can't read my mind…"

He pulled a face and then shrugged. "A little," he admitted, and I snorted. "Okay, a lot. But only because you won't tell me what you're thinking, and I don't know how to fix things if I don't know what's wrong. I'm sorry about before, I just…_please_, tell me what to do to make you feel better."

Sighing, I rested my head back against the warm, solid wall of his chest. "I don't think there's anything you _can _do," I murmured in a small voice.

"Tell me anyway?" he pleaded.

"All right," I agreed, taking a moment to put my feelings into words. Then I pulled back a little, thinking it might help if I could see his eyes while I tried to explain. "I was doing pretty well keeping the sadness at bay…taking a break from it, I suppose. But my best friend just had a meltdown because he finally accepted that I'm dead, your mom is off taking my dad a sympathy casserole that he can't ever know I baked, and for all I know, my mom left town this morning without seeing me, without _ever _being able to see me again. How do you fix any of that?"

"Time," Edward whispered sadly. "Time is about the only thing I know that can heal grief. That and remembering…talking about the people you love and miss so that you make happy memories rather than just trying to block out the pain."

"Well, I guess that's one thing I've got lots of now that I'm kind of immortal…_time__…_and a great memory," I joked, but my voice sounded hollow.

"Hey, it's not _all _bad, being a vampire," Edward offered, causing a reaction from his family, who were, of course, listening in to every word we said. Things were dropped, curses uttered, and words of amazement and disbelief filtered through from various parts of the house to where we stood alone in the music room. It took me aback.

"Okay…" I murmured, eyeing him curiously. "Want to tell me what that was about?"

He dropped his eyes, and I ducked down to capture his gaze. "Edward?" I asked when he didn't respond, and he groaned, lifting a hand to run it through his hair, crazily messing the strands I'd only just straightened.

"I guess you could say that I haven't always been overly gracious or accepting of my, er…_condition,__" _he offered cryptically, and I frowned, confused.

"Admit it, Edward…You've been stuck in a hundred-year sulk!" Emmett called from where he was playing Xbox in the games room, his words triggering raucous laughter from throughout the house. To my surprise, Carlisle's laughter was the loudest, coming from his office. In fact, he laughed so hard that Esme excused herself from where she'd been sitting, chatting with Rosalie while doing some embroidery, and went upstairs to make sure he was all right.

The look on Edward's face told me he was rapidly approaching breaking point, so I was glad I'd managed to keep my own laughter at bay. It would seem that Edward hadn't always been thrilled with his super-species status, though I imagined he must have done some serious complaining over the years to provoke that much of a reaction.

"Want to go down to my room so we can talk in private?" I whispered, offering him a reprieve. He nodded jerkily, his relief quite comical.

"Spoilsports!" Emmett called, and I tugged Edward with me toward the basement rather than let him go after his brother. Waiting until we were safely behind the closed door to my rather conveniently soundproofed room, I turned to him, my expression concerned.

"So, you and Emmett…has it always been like this?"

"Like what?" Edward grumbled, still bristling from being the butt of his family's humor.

"The joking, the teasing, the wanting to rip each other's heads off."

My words brought a smile to Edward's face, which I felt quite good about.

"No…not the decapitating, anyway. We've always joked around a lot, and normally I don't mind. But it's different with you here." He shrugged.

Worried by his words, I chewed on my lower lip, something that always seemed to draw Edward's eyes and cause them to darken, though I wasn't sure why.

"Do you think maybe Emmett doesn't like me; that he doesn't want me here? Could _that_ be why he keeps teasing you…us?" I asked, the insecurity that had plagued me all my life rushing to the fore.

Edward's eyes widened as he met my gaze. "No!" he practically shouted. "Emmett loves you, Bella; all my family does. They think you're wonderful, smart, beautiful, amazing….I could go on and on. They're incredibly happy to have you here. It's just they realize the circumstances of you being with us are tragic, and they're trying not to be insensitive to your losses. But please, don't ever think you're not welcome in our family, because you are…by _everyone_, Emmett included. He thinks you're incredibly cute and _way_ out of my league…which I can't dispute. Carlisle and Esme already think of you as another daughter, and the girls are so excited to have you as a sister they can hardly contain themselves. Jasper just wants you to be happy, and he'd do anything to keep you safe, Bella…we all would. You're one of us now…for always."

A little stunned by Edward's passionate outburst, I had to sit down for a moment.

"Wow…" I murmured from where I'd taken a seat on the end of the bed. "That's…great. I like your family, too."

"_Your _family, now as well," he insisted before sitting down beside me. I wasn't quite ready to acknowledge them as such, but I didn't argue. After a while, we lay back on the bed together with his arm around me, my head resting on his shoulder.

"So, with Emmett…it's kind of a _hazing_ thing, all the teasing?" I asked, still not entirely understanding Edward's brother's motivation. I'd never had a brother of my own, but I'd certainly seen plenty of roughhouse behavior amongst Jacob's friends on the Res.

"Mostly, it's just his way of welcoming you to the family and a great opportunity to get back at me for all the pranks I've pulled on him over the years," Edward explained, and I smiled, imagining the havoc they must have wreaked. I'd always wanted to be a part of a large family, which was why I'd enjoyed my summers visiting Jacob and his friends so much.

Edward was right, and I could imagine that talking about Jacob and all the fun we'd had growing up together was probably a good idea…but I didn't feel like traveling down that road just now. Rather than happy memories, I kept picturing Jacob crying and being led away by Sam and Jared, before turning into a big, red-brown wolf and taking off howling into the trees…not that I'd seen that for myself, of course. Emmett had done a good job of describing what had happened, and in a surprisingly sensitive way. He'd seen how angry and upset I had been and, despite the fact that he could have had a whole heap of fun at Jake's expense, he hadn't, and I appreciated his restraint.

Steering my thoughts away from painful territory, I brought it back to a topic that I hoped would help to lift off the sadness that had settled on my shoulders like a dark cloud.

"If being a vampire isn't all bad, what sort of things do you like about it?" I asked, thinking that now might be a good time to hear about some of the positive aspects of this life I was stuck living, whether I wanted to or not. "Other than the blood," I amended, "as I don't want to think about that just now…my throat's burning enough as it is." I'd been told that keeping to a once-daily feeding schedule at roughly the same time each day was the best way for me to gradually gain control over my rampant thirst. Jasper was adamant that if I gave in to the craving and drank as often as I wanted, it would take much longer for me to develop the control required to spend time around humans...as well as wipe out the local fauna in the process.

"Fair enough, other than blood," Edward murmured, and then proceeded to answer my question. "Well…I like the speed. I'm the fastest runner in the family; faster than anyone I've ever met," he stated, matter-of-factly. "And I can climb…anything."

"Hmmm…that sounds like fun," I agreed. "All my life, I've always been so uncoordinated that doing anything athletic's never really been an option. I can't wait to be able to go for a proper run and find out what I can do."

Edward rose up on his elbows, a huge grin on his face. "Oh, just wait until we go running together, Bella. You're going to _love _it! I might even let you beat me…sometimes."

"Beat you?" I growled, turning on my side toward him so as to show my full displeasure. "I think someone's forgetting just which member of this partnership is the strongest!"

Edward froze, and for a second I wondered if I'd offended him. But then he reached toward me to stroke his forefinger slowly down the side of my face and along the line of my jaw, his touch gentle and yet resonating right throughout my body.

"Partnership?" he whispered, his voice sounding hoarse, and I ducked my head to hide my smile. Edward might be a vampire, a _killer__—_of animals, not people…mostly—but he was such a softie. Not that I minded.

"That's what I said," I replied, looking up at him through my lashes and watching his eyes darken. It was an incredible feeling to realize I had so much power over this beautiful boy…and a little daunting at times.

"Okay…running and climbing," I said, attempting to get us both back on track. The privacy was nice, but awfully tempting. "What about flying…can any of you guys do that?" I teased, though a small part of me wouldn't have been overly surprised if he'd said yes. Vampires _were _supposed to be able to turn into bats, after all.

"Kind of," Edward replied, a smirk curling his lip when my mouth dropped open. "We _can__'__t_ fly but we can leap fairly large distances from treetop to treetop. It's _almost _like flying."

Frowning, I tried to to picture what he'd described, and then my eyes widened. "What? Like a flying squirrel?" I giggled.

Edward's scowled at me in mock anger, and then he flipped me onto my back. "I'll 'flying squirrel' you," he growled, wrestling my flailing arms out of the way so he could tickle my sides. I squealed with laughter, not really attempting to escape even though I could have...easily, because it was fun, and because I preferred the illusion that Edward was stronger than me.

We tussled for a while, with Edward continuing to tickle my ribs, and I laughed so hard I was really glad I could no longer pee. I couldn't remember ever being tickled successfully before, and it was fantastic in a stop/don't stop kind of way. Charlie and I'd never had that sort of relationship, and Renee was more the cuddle-and-chat type. Jake had tried it once, long before his wolf-gene had kicked in and he'd gone all _Incredible __Hulk_ on me, but it hadn't ended very well. Even then, he'd been stronger than me, and with my luck, I'd come out of it with a sprained wrist and a bruised face. Explaining how I'd been injured to Charlie had _not _been fun.

This time I didn't have to worry about getting hurt; quite the opposite—I was the one who might accidentally hurt Edward if I wasn't careful, so I was being _very _careful. But despite my attempts at restraint, I somehow ended up on top with him pinned beneath me. Not actually breathless, but breathing fast from the sheer fun of it, I held his hands above his head, my hair fanning out like a curtain around us. As we grinned at each other, I was captured by the almost mystical beauty of his face…the sheer perfection…and the smile that was all for me. The laughter died as our breaths mingled together, our mouths hovering barely inches apart.

"Bella?" Edward murmured, love shining from his dark, burgundy rimmed eyes, and a question in his voice. I wasn't sure what he was asking of me: a kiss which I would gladly give, or the words that we were both waiting for me to be ready to speak.

I lowered my head a fraction at the same time as Edward rose up toward me, and our lips met…brushing softly, enticingly against one another.

"Oh, Bella…" Edward breathed and then slowly pulled my lower lip into his mouth. Hovering above him, I savored the feel of him suckling my lip, grazing it with his teeth and then soothing the graze with slow, sensual swipes of his tongue. After long, lovely moments, we traded places, and I drew his plump lower lip into my mouth to return the favor in the hope that I made him feel even a fraction of the pleasure that he gave me. Then we kissed, over and over, and the feel of his soft, warm lips brushing against mine in sweet caresses swept away every care, every sadness, every thought but one…Edward.

Releasing his hands, I tangled my fingers in his hair as he wrapped his arms around me, drawing my body down onto his. We both moaned at the exquisite contact, and I felt what little resolve I had to take our time and go slow while we got to know one another…dissolve. From the way Edward was holding me close and running his hands up and down my back and over my hips and thighs, I didn't think that his resolve was faring any better. Besides, I didn't need to be a psychic or an empath to know that he was every bit as aroused as I was.

So, it was probably a good thing that Jasper and Alice chose that particular moment to knock on the door and announce their arrival.

Edward and I froze, mid-kiss, and then slowly, reluctantly drew our lips apart.

"Just a second," Edward called hoarsely, and I heard Jasper's distinctive chuckle through a crack he'd made in our soundproof world by opening the door.

Lifting myself off the delicious cushion of Edward's body, I flopped backward onto the bed, one arm across my face to cover my grimace of embarrassment…and frustration. Edward moved to sit with his back to the wall, his knees bent in front of him to hide how our brief but wonderful interlude had affected him.

Groaning, I remembered that there _was_ no hiding from Jasper's freaky talent…or Alice's for that matter. She'd probably seen us _not _stopping and had come to the rescue, but at that moment I didn't feel very grateful. _Where __were __the __wolves __when __I __needed __them?_ I thought grumpily. Then, I chuckled at the ridiculousness of wishing that shape-shifting wolves would come by to block the weird psychic talents of the goodhearted vampires who were intent on stopping me from accidentally going too far before I was ready with my gorgeous but highly-addictive vampire boyfriend.

But then my embarrassment was brushed aside, replaced by curiosity and no little excitement at Alice's words.

"Come on you two love-birds," she piped as she bounced into the room, Jasper in tow. "Time to get ready for your big date!"

_~OB~_

_**Personally, I wouldn't mind a tickle fight with Edward. How about you?**_

_**Sorry about the continuing UST. Hope I'm not giving too much away, but I think you'll be pleased to know that I'm currently writing some resolution…but date night and a little more family/falling in love time first!**_

_**Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I think Once Bitten is going to make it to 1000 with this chapter. Woohoo! :D**_

_**xxx TLSue**_

_**PPS: For readers of AFL who heard about my car accident, thanks for all the well wishes. I'm on the mend, just a little concussed, achy and shaky. Hope my writing makes sense!**_


	26. Cullen Style

_**What would we all do without Stephenie Meyer's incredible creation? We wouldn't be counting the sleeps left until the BD1 premiere for one thing, and that would be a tragedy!**_

_**Thank you so much to all my readers and reviewers for helping Once Bitten reach 1000 reviews last chapter. Your support, encouragement, and patience with my first fanfic has been amazing. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the journey. :D**_

_**Extra special thanks to my terrific betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar for their amazing support. And thanks CC for giving me my 1000th review…Yay!**_

_**Thanks also to my prereaders, hotwardfangirl and Content1, for keeping me on track and being such great friends.**_

_**A special shout out to clairebear78 for posting her first ever review which just happened to be Once Bitten's 999th! I hope to hear from you again now that you've taken the plunge. ;)**_

_**And finally, thanks to all the Once Bitten readers giving my new AH story a go. I appreciate all your encouraging reviews – nearly 300 in the last week! - and I'm glad you're enjoying the story.**_

_**Posted: Friday November 4th 2011**_  
><em><strong>Words: 4280<strong>_

Chapter 26

Cullen Style

BPOV

"So, Bella, do you promise to keep your eyes closed, or should I blindfold you?" Before I could answer, Alice's eyes took on that faraway look and she smiled happily. "No blindfold needed. Come on, we don't want to keep your date waiting."

Taking me by the hand, she led me from the bathroom where I'd undergone another one of her and Rosalie's makeovers and down the hallway to the stairs. Rosalie had gone ahead to "help with preparations" though neither girl would tell me what they—or _Edward__—_had planned.

I felt a bit overdressed wearing super-tight, black, hipster skinny jeans, an off-the-shoulder top made from a deep blue silky material, and four-inch heels on my strappy black sandals. They'd piled my hair on my head in a messy up-do and highlighted my already smoky-looking vampire upgrade eyes with smoky-looking eye shadow, and I had to admit, I looked incredibly hot. But for what? I was excited about Edward's and my first official date. But I couldn't imagine that we'd be doing anything more than playing a board game with his family or maybe watching a DVD, so I wasn't sure what the fuss was about. It wasn't not like we could _go_anywhere.

"I will get to hunt first?" I asked as we made our way down the stairs. Edward wasn't waiting for me at the bottom, and I hesitated, feeling suddenly unsure.

"Yes, of course. We want you to have a good time tonight, not torture you. Jasper says you're doing incredibly well with managing your thirst, but twenty-four hours is a _long _time for a newborn and nobody expects you to wait a minute longer."

"Okay…" I murmured. "But won't I end up all messy, and I'm not sure about hunting in these shoes?"

"You'll take your shoes off, silly," Alice giggled. "I just wanted Edward to get the full effect beforehand, that's all. As for getting messy, that won't be a problem. I've got an over shirt all ready, though I don't think you'll need to use one for much longer. It is really quite amazing how quickly you're gaining control, Bella. You're adapting so well, it's like you were _meant _to be a vampire."

Staring blankly, I couldn't quite believe what she'd just said, but then I decided to shrug it off rather than take offense. I was learning that Alice had a very different view of the world than anyone I'd ever met, but she had a good heart and I was pretty sure she meant well.

Shaking my head, I made my way down the stairs, marveling at how easy I found it to walk in high heels, especially since I'd never expected to be able to wear them. At the base of the stairs, Alice spun me to face her before I could look outside.

"Time to close your eyes now. We don't want to spoil the surprise," she chimed, and I stifled a groan. I wasn't very good at surprises.

"Where's Edward?" I asked as she led me toward the door. "He'll be there when I hunt, won't he?"

"Of course, sweetie, don't fret. You're going to have an absolutely wonderful evening, I guarantee it."

_So, __no __unexpected __visits __from __the __wolves __then_, I mused, or Alice wouldn't have been so confident.

With my eyes closed, my other senses suddenly seemed more acute. Breathing deeply, I easily detected the scents of the various members of Edward's family located around the edge of the forest, their pleasant, almost floral odors standing out distinctly from the other aromas of the evening. But while this registered in one part of my mind, my attention was captured by a sweet, familiar scent that drew me forward, and the most wonderful sound imaginable…a rapidly beating heart.

"Edward," I murmured, turning toward his scent and the sound that were located together about a hundred yards from where I stood on the rear deck.

"Keep your eyes closed for a bit longer, Bella, just 'til we're past this side of the house." Alice tugged me to the left, in Edward's direction, so I gladly obliged, but I wasn't sure how long I could keep doing what she asked. Everything within me wanted to run, hunt, feed, and if I was honest, enjoy the aftermath with Edward, but, of course, that wasn't the type of night he would have planned.

About twenty yards past the back corner of the house, Alice tugged me to a halt.

"You can open your eyes now," she advised and I did, blinking as a few, late rays of the setting sun peeked through the cloud cover to cast a golden hue over the tops of the trees, sending streaks of multicolored light sparkling across the lawn. I hadn't seen any direct sunlight since becoming a vampire, and I couldn't believe how beautiful it looked. But then I heard Edward call my name, and my eyes shot to his face…and the large buck penned in a makeshift enclosure right by his side.

My eyes couldn't decide where to settle, flitting between the proud-looking animal with the large antlers, delicious scent, and pounding heartbeat and the fine-looking man dressed in tight black jeans and a black button-down shirt rolled up to reveal his muscular forearms. His hair was slicked back, which made him look different—_older__—_and very, very sexy, though I actually preferred his crazy, tousled look. Either way, I didn't think Edward could look anything but amazing.

_Weren__'__t Ja__sper __and __Alice __supposed __to __be __helping __Edward __and __me __keep __our __attraction __for __each __other __under __control?_ I thought, unable to suppress the whimper that escaped my lips.

"Yeah, my little brother is looking pretty hot tonight," Alice murmured, apparently agreeing with my assessment, even if it had been incoherent. "Or were you reacting to the buck?" She turned to face me, and I shrugged, embarrassed to admit the truth. Sure I wanted the blood…and soon, but Edward was mesmerizing. Just as the thought crossed my mind, the last rays of the setting sun caught him in a golden glow. He seemed to…_sparkle_, which must have been a trick of the light though it was beautiful, and I swayed a little on my feet.

Edward was at my side in an instant.

"Are you all right?" he demanded, grasping my upper arm. "Jazz, I think you're laying it on too strong. She needs to hunt and you suppressing the urge is making it too difficult for her."

Frowning, I wondered what Edward meant, and then I blinked a couple of times and saw that Jasper was virtually saturating me in a cloud of his mood-altering ability. I'd been so distracted that I hadn't even noticed the hazy-looking tendrils. Or maybe I was just too overwhelmed by how unbelievably gorgeous Edward looked to be aware of anything else. Up close, he was even more lethal than he'd looked at a distance.

"She's fine, Edward," Jasper called from where he was standing not far from the buck. Concentrating, I saw that the animal was also under Jasper's calming influence, and I was glad. The poor creature would have been wild with fear otherwise.

"Bella? Are you sure you're all right?" Edward asked again, the hand that had held me in place now stroking my arm while his free hand came up to cup my cheek.

"Jasper's right…I'm fine," I assured him, smiling shyly at this god-like creature who was so clearly smitten with…_me._ "You look nice," I murmured, and his eyes went wide.

"_I _look nice? Bella! You look stunning, breathtaking, exquisite…I'm just…I can't…there are no words!"

Alice and I both giggled. For someone with "no words," he was doing pretty darn well as far as I was concerned.

"Glad you approve," I murmured, my voice surprising me with its husky timbre, and this time, Edward swayed toward me. I gladly encircled him with my arms to help steady him and he quickly mirrored my actions, both of us sighing at the now familiar comfort we experienced whenever we embraced…or kissed…or touched for that matter. The reaction we had to each other was growing stronger by the day, and I felt a little awed to know that it wasn't ever going to wane.

"You ready to hunt, sweetheart?'" Edward murmured, and I nodded against his chest. Jasper was somehow managing to keep the bloodlust at bay, but he wasn't able to stop the burn in my throat.

In a matter of moments, I'd removed my strappy sandals, donned the black over-shirt that Alice handed me, and turned to face the caged animal awaiting my attack. Preparing to do this _cold_, without first being overwhelmed by the craving for blood, felt very different, and I hesitated.

"What is it?" Edward asked, and I shrugged.

"It's just…he's such a beautiful-looking animal, and so big! I couldn't possibly need that much blood or possibly drink it all. Killing him and then wasting the blood—_and _the meat—it doesn't seem right."

"You won't…_we _won't," Edward replied, that half-smile I liked so much curving one side of his mouth. "We can't risk the meat being consumed by humans due to the presence of our venom. But where possible, we take the carcasses into the wild to be eaten by scavengers…just like in nature. You're not wasting anything."

"What about all the blood I can't drink?" I insisted, and Edward's smile grew wider. "Are you laughing at me?" I murmured, dropping my eyes.

"No, of course not! I like it that you care and that you think about these things. You are astonishing for a newborn. Your control is…unprecedented."

"Well, I think the only reason for my _unprecedented_ control is because your brother is using his weird magic on me; otherwise I seriously doubt we'd even be having this conversation…well, not fifty yards away from a live animal with a beating heart!" I retorted.

"Whatever the reason, I think you're amazing," he murmured and reached to place a kiss on my forehead, then the tip of my nose, and finally on my eagerly waiting lips. The gentle kiss went from soft and sweet to firmer and then downright demanding in a matter of seconds as desire surged within me…within us both.

"Enough, you two," Jasper called, laughter in his tone. "I can only manage one type of lust at a time. Bella needs to feed."

Edward and I broke apart at his words, but our hands remained tightly clasped.

"Are you sure you can't come with me?" I asked, turning to face the very large, very wild animal that I was supposed to capture and kill single-handedly. While I hadn't had any trouble with the deer, the buck was a lot bigger—_wilder__—_and the idea was a little daunting.

"No, babe, but I'll be close by," Edward murmured, and I smiled at my undeniably sweet and old-fashioned boyfriend's use of the endearment..._babe_. I liked it.

"Okay," I nodded, catching Jasper's eye as Edward stepped away from my arms. Between one breath and the next, Jasper's talent stopped blocking the bloodlust, and suddenly, I wasn't at all daunted by the idea of capturing and killing my prey. I was eager, moving swiftly toward it even as Emmett released the now frantic animal from the enclosure, its wildly beating heart calling to the predator within me…the predator that _was _me.

The hunt was over almost as soon as it began, the huge beast falling victim to my far superior speed and strength. And its blood! It tasted so much better than the smaller, weaker deer I'd drunk from before. But just as I'd predicted, I was full long before the big buck was drained. Eager for the exhilarating rush to continue, I tried to keep drinking, but I had to pull back as my jeans grew tight, and I started to feel positively sloshy.

"Jasper?" I heard Edward murmur, and I forced myself to resist the temptation to block Jasper's influence with my shield like I had the night before. Within seconds, I went from feeling possessive, aggressive and utterly euphoric to satiated and calm, well…relatively. Jasper wasn't fully suppressing the physical desire that came after the bloodlust, not that I minded. At that particular moment, I was totally ready for Edward and my relationship to move to the next stage, declarations of undying love be damned! But before I could act, the intensity of Jasper's talent increased just enough to bring me to my senses…unfortunately.

Edward approached, his expression wary, and I released a long-suffering sigh.

"I'm fine," I grumbled, annoyed with myself for the moodiness that still plagued me, especially when I hunted. Well…more to the point, when Jasper didn't allow the emotions the hunt inspired to proceed to their natural conclusion. Not that I blamed him. The smooth-talking Southerner had made it clear that he thought Edward and I were attempting the impossible by denying the vampire mating urges that drove us. But a delay was all we'd asked for, and he was doing his best to help by curbing my post-hunt desire. Not even his incredible talent could suppress it entirely.

Sighing again, I was tempted to ask Jasper to do something about the frustration still bothering me, but that seemed kind of pathetic, so I kept my mouth shut. I may have pouted a little.

Edward came to kneel on the other side of the buck that lay sprawled on the ground in front of me. "Was that good?" he asked, his words polite…civilized. But I could tell by the way his nostrils flared and his eyes darkened that the scent of the blood was bothering him.

"_Ver_y good," I replied, my tone unintentionally sultry, and his eyes darkened further as he came up on his haunches, breathing deeply.

"Why don't you drink the rest of the blood, while it's still warm?" I offered, and he stared at me wild-eyed. Then shaking his head he sat back again, his hands raised in front of him as if to ward off the lure of the deer's blood, though the look on his face told me he was seriously tempted.

"Ah…I don't think that would be a very good idea." He grimaced, swallowing repeatedly.

"No, it definitely wouldn't be!" Jasper retorted, sprinting toward us, a panicked expression on his face. "Listen, guys, I'm reaching overload here. Between absorbing Bella's newborn bloodlust, and then the other kind of lust…I can't take any more!"

A giggle burst from my lips at the absolute ridiculousness of the situation, and Edward's pained expression morphed into a smile.

"Fair enough, Jazz," Edward chuckled. "You go; we'll be fine, won't we?" he asked and I nodded, grinning as my mood swung from grumpy to contented.

Jasper wasted no time in racing to Alice where she'd remained standing near the rear of the house, swinging her up into his arms and then sprinting toward the forest.

"Thanks, you two. Have fun!" I couldn't resist calling after them, before falling back on the lawn, my arms wrapped around my middle as I gave in to a fit of laughter.

"Hey, Bella, did Jazz hit you with the giggle juice?" Emmett called as he walked toward us at a human pace. Still chuckling, I pushed up on my elbows and watched as he picked up the huge buck and tossed it effortlessly over his shoulder.

I shook my head, my laughter fading. "Just tickled by the utter absurdity of my new life, that's all," I replied.

"Yeah…but it's not _all _bad, is it?" Emmett rejoined, tapping Edward on the thigh with his foot as he passed.

"Not from where I'm sitting." Edward smiled, his eyes fixed on my face. I wasn't sure if Jasper had left us a passing gift, but my boyfriend now looked as blissfully happy as I now felt.

"So…" I murmured when long minutes had passed with us both sitting back, leaning on our hands, just staring at one another.

"So…" Edward replied, a smirk curling his lip.

"Was that it, then?"

Edward frowned, cocking his head to the side in that utterly adorable way of his, clearly confused by my question.

"Is that what I got dressed up for—our big date—to run fifty yards across your parents' back yard and bring down a buck?"

Edward's eyes widened, and he leaped to his feet. "No, of course not, though it was part of it…the first part, actually…dinner.'

"Dinner?" I laughed.

"Yes…I wanted to get you something special, like bear or mountain lion, but I decided it was best to wait until we can hunt them in the wild. They're a bit difficult to trap and much harder to keep calm."

"Oh…sure," I murmured, feeling not so much like Alice in Wonderland this time, as Dorothy in the land of Oz. _Lions __and __tigers __and __bears__…__oh __my!_

Shaking off the thought, I looked down at my hands, pleased to see that while they were a bit grimy from holding the deer, they weren't covered in blood this time. Other than a few splatters on the black overshirt, I'd survived the hunt unscathed. Whisking off the black shirt, I wiped the grime from my hands before reaching out to take the hand that Edward offered. He lifted me to my feet using a little more force than was strictly necessary, and I came up hard against him. We both smiled at the impact, and then, hand-in-hand, he led me back toward the house.

"Um…dinner was nice_,_" I offered, realizing I hadn't thanked Edward and wanting to be polite. It had been more than _nice_ of course, but I still felt a little awkward discussing my newfound experience of getting high whenever I ate.

"Good, I'm glad you enjoyed it," he murmured, pulling me in close to his side and wrapping his arm around my shoulder at the same time as he leaned down to kiss the top of my head. It was a maneuver I was getting used to and one I didn't mind at all.

"I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening," he continued, his tone a little anxious, and I looked up to see him eyeing me worriedly.

"Oh, I'm sure I will," I rushed to reassure him. "Dinner was great, and whatever you have planned will be fine."

"Just your usual date-night stuff." He smiled shyly, and I wondered what he'd arranged.

We reached the back patio, and he handed me my sandals which I quickly donned while leaning against him, letting him support my weight when we both knew I didn't _need_ any help. Then, with our hands linked, we walked around the corner of the house, and I jerked to a halt, my mouth falling open.

This part of the Cullens' vast back yard had been lit up like a magic wonderland with what appeared to be hundreds of candles, some sitting in glass jars and others shining from atop tall, multi-pronged wrought iron candelabra scattered round the lawn. A large, two-seat recliner sat in the middle of the glittering lights, aimed toward the back of the house where an outdoor movie screen had been erected. Glancing in the opposite direction, I saw a projector sitting on a pedestal, and as I watched, it flickered to life and bright swirling colors lit up the screen. At the same time, the air was filled with the sound of music, beating in time to the lights pulsing on the screen.

"Oh, Edward…It's beautiful," I breathed, looking up to see him smiling down at my, no doubt, awestruck expression.

"Dinner and a movie…Cullen style," he replied, gesturing me forward with a half bow and a wave of his hand.

Leading me on a meandering path through the lights toward the seat in the middle, Edward kept smiling down at me, and I grinned in return. I'd never been on an actual date before, and this was amazing. It was obvious that everyone had gone to a lot of trouble, and I felt my throat tighten with an emotion that would have brought tears to my eyes if I'd still been able to cry.

Edward and I took a seat together on the super-comfortable couch facing the screen, then he wrapped his arm around me, nestling me against his side as he flipped a lever to raise the leg rests. With a flick of his wrist, he spread a soft blanket across our legs, not that either of us were bothered by the cold, but it was a nice touch.

"Comfortable?" he murmured and I nodded, smiling happily.

A slight noise alerted me to his parents' approach, and I looked up to see them walking toward us, arm-in-arm, with matching indulgent smiles on their faces.

"I'd offer you popcorn and a soda, but I really wouldn't recommend it," Esme teased when they reached our side.

"No, I'm good." I smiled back at her. "Dinner was _amazing,_ and I'm quite full, actually."

"Glad to hear it," she laughed.

"Once the movie is playing, we're going to take it in turns to get away for a while," Carlisle added. "Some of us need to hunt or just a bit of time with our mates, but we'll make sure there are a few standing guard at any one time, so you can just relax and enjoy your date."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Edward nodded.

"We both do. Thanks so much…for everything," I added, shyly.

"You're very welcome, Isabella," Carlisle replied, his expression serious. "Now, you two enjoy the rest of your night."

Smiling, I watched them turn away and then gasped as they flitted off at the incredible speeds that would have rendered them all but invisible to human eyes. They doused the candlelight as they ran, leaving us in darkness, well…as much darkness as a vampire can experience. It helped that the beautiful stars were blocked by a heavy cover of clouds.

"I hope it doesn't rain," I murmured, and Edward squeezed my arm.

"Alice predicts a wolf and rain-free evening."

"Oh…good." I shrugged, still getting used to the whole 'psychic in the family' deal. "So, what's the movie?" I asked, wondering if Alice had been able to work out which DVDs I'd already seen.

"The new Pride and Prejudice movie, with Keira Knightley," Edward surprised me by saying, and I frowned.

"But…but that hasn't even come out at the movies yet, has it?" I puzzled, wondering if I'd lost more time than I realized. I'd been looking forward to seeing it ever since I'd heard it was being made, though I couldn't really imagine it competing with the BBC miniseries.

"It's an early release copy," Edward explained, though that didn't tell me _how _they'd obtained it. "It is something you'd like to see, though?" His frown told me he was worried, but he had no need. I was delighted.

"I'm thrilled!" I exclaimed. "It's a perfect choice."

Edward's grin rewarded my enthusiasm, and he lifted a remote control that I hadn't noticed and, pointing it toward the projector behind us, he set the movie to play.

It was wonderful, even better than I'd hoped, and I lost myself in the magic of Jane Austen's world and the relationships of her wonderful characters. When the final credits rolled, I sighed, the image of Lizzie and Mr Darcy sitting facing each other in the candle-lit garden of Pemberley, reminding me of my own, new, and fantastical existence. Though honestly, the changes to Lizzie's circumstances were _nothing_ compared to the transformation my life had undertaken in a little over a week!

As the screen went dark, Edward turned on his side to face me, and I mirrored his actions.

"Did you enjoy it?" he murmured and I nodded, sighing happily.

"Oh, yes…thank you," I breathed. "It was perfect."

"And here you thought dinner and a movie weren't an option," Edward gently mocked, chucking my chin with his forefinger, and I laughed.

_Who needed dinner at a restaurant in Port Angeles followed by a movie at the old theater when I could hunt my meal myself and then cuddle up with my boyfriend in my very own, custom built outdoor theater?_

The thought made me smile and snuggle closer to Edward, one hand sneaking beneath the shirt that had very conveniently come loose from the waist of his pants.

"Bella?" he murmured with a hint of wariness in his voice.

"Oh, come on," I teased. "We've just enjoyed a lovely date, we're out here all alone—_sort __of__—_it's dark—_sort __of__—_and we're hidden beneath a blanket. What seventeen-year-old couple do you know who wouldn't make the most of the opportunity, at least a _little_?" To add emphasis to my words, I fluttered my eyelashes a little and then deliberately licked my lower lip before capturing it between my teeth, both actions that seemed to have a..._loosening _affect on my noble boyfriend's ironcast resolve.

Edward remained quiet and I tensed. But then he chuckled, pushed the recliner all the way back and slipped further down beneath the blanket, taking me with him. His lips found mine...soft...warm…mobile, and then his arms pulled me close until there was no space left between us. The feel of his body pressed along the length of mine was almost _too _good, and I shivered.

"This what you had in mind?" Edward murmured against my mouth when we finally came up for the air we no longer needed.

"Something like this," I whispered, smiling happily and pulling his mouth back down to mine.

He didn't need to warn me that his family would interrupt if things go too out of hand, determined to help us help ourselves as per our request, but I had every intention of enjoying the complete and utter bliss of kissing Edward for as long as inhumanly possible.

_~OB~_

_**Awww…takes me back to when I was dating my gorgeous hubby 30 years ago. We were determined to wait, but we could kiss for hours. Sigh….**_

_**Sorry for the TMI and the never-ending UST. I'm currently writing a chapter I've entitled 'Finally!' Any guesses on what it might be about?**_

_**Reviews aren't quite as good as long, lingering kisses….but they come close. :D**_

_**xxx TLSue**_


	27. Adjusting

_**No copyright infringement is intended against Stephenie Meyer's wonderful world of Twilight – just lots of thanks and gratitude. BD1 is less than a week away! Yay!**_

_**Thanks to my lovely betas and prereaders, Chloe Cougar, Squeaky Zorro, Content1, and hotwardfangirl. They've earned their pay this time, that's for sure! (I rewrote a section in this just prior to posting, so any grammatical errors are all mine.)**_

_**I'm so glad everyone enjoyed Edward's and Bella's date night. It was a lot of fun to write, but I have to admit, I found it quite difficult to write this chapter and the next. I originally intended to post them as one chapter, but they got longer and longer and my team advised (insisted!) I split them up. I've covered a lot of ground and a multitude of different scenes to give Edward and Bella the time they need to let their relationship develop. I hope you don't mind the extra time it has taken – there's so many cool things to explore with our lovely and very loved-up virgin vamps – but they're finally where we we're all eager for them to be.**_

_**Sorry if I gave the wrong impression in last week's Author Notes. I have written the 'finally' chapters - I think you guys are going to love them as I really loved writing them - but they're not up just yet. I can promise a wonderful early Christmas present for my faithful Once Bitten readers, and I'd like to say a big thank you for your support, encouragement, and for sticking with me through the longest, slowest burn imaginable. If anyone had told me it would take 30 chapters to get to this point in my story I would have said they had rocks in their heads! But as one of my wonderful reviewers pointed out…just imagine the fireworks when the UST finally gets resolved. ;-)**_

_**Posted: Friday November 11th 2011**_  
><em><strong>Words: 5501<strong>_

Chapter 27

Adjusting

BPOV

My life began to take on a new pattern as I slowly adjusted to the strange reality of being a vampire. Not needing sleep meant time moved differently than I was used to. With so much packed into each twenty-four-hour period, each day felt more like two or sometimes even three. The old me would have found it a bit overwhelming with events overlapping and blurring together, but my vampire brain processed every moment of every doubly-long day differently, capturing it all in high definition perfection.

There were times when I thought I preferred the human way, even if my new brain did take multitasking to a whole new level. Remembering _everything__—_every word, every look, every action—along with my heightened emotional responses, made me feel like I was living multiple lives simultaneously. So, as I reminisced over the previous two weeks, I deliberately focused on the highlights.

My first official date with Edward was definitely one of them.

Knowing that his family would intervene if things got too out of hand—as per our wishes—helped us to keep our rampant desire for each other at least somewhat contained. While that could have felt awfully restrictive, like an old-fashioned chaperoned courtship, it was actually kind of…liberating. Lying together partially hidden beneath the blanket that Edward pulled over us, we remained wrapped in each other's arms well into the night. Our long, languorous kisses fluctuated between frenzied passion and slow, deliberate exploration as we delighted in one another, smiling and whispering together in the dark. It was just what I'd secretly imagined making out with a guy I was mad about would be like—well, one who knew I wasn't ready for more and didn't try to push it—hot, exciting, steamy, and kind of frustrating…but in a good way.

Even now, two weeks and oh, so many kisses later, I couldn't help smiling at the memory.

"What?" Edward murmured dreamily, nuzzling my hair as we lay beside each other on the grass behind his parent's home, enjoying the warmth of the spring sunshine that so rarely broke through the almost ever-present cloud cover.

"Just thinking," I replied, raising up our joined hands to capture the rays that infused our bodies with delicious heat, while simultaneously sending glittering sparkles bouncing off our diamond-like skin.

Now _that _had been a revelation.

No wonder Edward had been a bit shy about explaining why vampires avoided sunlight. When he and his family showed me how the phenomenom during one of the first sunny days in Forks since my change, I was too surprised to react…_at __first_. But then my shock wore off, and I dissolved into a fit of laughter and fell to my knees. Curling up on my side, I howled, pounding the ground with my fist.

"I'm sorry," I gasped, trying to bring my hysterics under control. I knew I was being horribly rude, but I couldn't believe that vampires—who under normal circumstances were bloodthirsty killers and the ultimate predators—actually sparkled like ornaments on a Christmas tree when exposed to sunlight! I tried to suppress my laughter, but it didn't help that every time I opened my eyes, I saw the sun bouncing off my own skin like I'd been marinated in glitter paint. It was just so damned funny.

It was also the first time I ever saw Edward sulk. But while I got the impression from his family that Edward's bad moods could be quite spectacular in their intensity and duration, it hadn't taken long for me to cajole him out of it.

Distraction worked well on toddlers and apparently just as well on sullen, sparkly vampires. It helped that the method of distraction I chose involved trying on one of the lacy pushup bras Alice had bought me from Victoria's Secret, along with a slightly lower cut top than I would normally wear. That, and some particularly steamy kisses—the type that pushed Edward's self-imposed boundaries to their limits—and he forgot all about being upset with me for laughing at his pretty, glittery skin.

Fortunately, the rest of his family wasn't offended by my reaction, or much else that I did for that matter. I wasn't sure how long it would last, but for now they seemed willing to forgive just about anything I said or did. Whether it was because they felt bad for the way I'd been forced into this life or their willingness to blame my behavior on my being a newborn, I'm pretty sure I could have gotten away with murder…_literally._

Sometimes I found it annoying how determined they all were to love and accept me, no matter what. But mostly, if I was honest, it was really quite wonderful. I'd never had siblings nor had I been a part of a large family before…and I loved it. Which made me feel horribly guilty. My parents…my friends…were grieving my loss, and it didn't seem right that I was getting to have so much fun, as if I was on the ultimate adventure.

Sighing, I let our hands fall as I curled on my side, nestling my head against Edward's shoulder. Every day I spent with him and his family was filled with such an incredible range of experiences…and my often extreme responses. My new brain might process at a much faster rate, but my emotions were still erratic, to say the least.

Edward's advice for helping me cope with my grief turned out to be very wise, and even though it hurt, I made time every day to talk about the friends and family I'd lost. These weren't always sad times, as so many of my memories were happy ones. But even so, I usually ended up weeping dryly on Edward's shoulder at some point. His family tried their best to help, encouraging me to tell stories, share my memories, and occasionally even vent my frustration at the unfairness of not being able to let the people I loved know that I was still alive. But even during the worst moments of my grief, I no longer felt angry with Edward.

It wasn't that I was denying what he'd done, or the colossal mistake his family had made putting school students at risk…a mistake that _I _had paid for. It was just that while I could certainly _become_ angry with Edward—and considering that my moods bounced around like a firefly in a glass jar, that had happened quite regularly—it was just that I couldn't _stay _angry with him. When I was hurting, he was the only one who could take away the pain, so no matter how badly I was grieving, it was Edward who I turned to for comfort.

When I learned that there were rogue vampires in the area and that my dad was out hunting them—unwittingly, of course—it was Edward who calmed me down.

"Your father is family to us now, Bella, whether he knows it or not," he murmured, looking me directly in the eye and rubbing my arms with gentle, soothing strokes. "I promise…we won't let anything happen to him."

I nodded, trying my best to calm myself when all I wanted to do was run as fast as I could to town and make sure that Charlie was okay. Not that that would help, as I posed an even greater risk to my dad than the rogue vampires…apparently. But then I'd remembered we weren't the only supposedly mythical creatures roaming around Forks.

"I know you don't like the wolves very much, but I know them and they're not bad, they're good_… __people,_" I insisted using my most convincing tone even though I didn't really expect to make a difference in Edward's thinking…not that that was my purpose. What I wanted was reassurance. "Since it's the wolves' job to protect humans from vampires—_bad _vampires—and since Billy is my dad's best friend, do you think they'll look out for Charlie?" My words ended on a sob, and Edward pulled me into a hug.

"It's not so much that I don't _like _them." I heard the grimace in his voice. "It's just that my instincts tell me not to trust them." I looked up into his beautiful amber eyes, a question in my still very red ones. "But yes…I'm sure the wolves are looking out for your father. From what I heard in Sam's thoughts, they consider him as one of their own."

Edward's words caused me to sigh with relief. Since I couldn't do anything to help protect him directly, all I could hope was that between the wolves and the Cullens, Charlie would be safe.

I wish I could have said the same for Jake.

He'd disappeared, or so Esme had heard from my dad. Charlie had posted pictures with Jake's picture and details all around town—he was that worried—and now, so was I.

Edward was convinced my friend had gone 'wolf' and taken off into the wilderness, unable to bear his grief in human form.

"But how can you know?" I cried, once again wanting to run, but this time to find my best friend. What if the bad vampires had found him?

"Because I caught a glimpse of what he was planning in his thoughts, the day he came to the house with Sam," Edward explained, as I paced before one of the huge picture windows that took up the entire rear of the house, not trusting myself to actually go outside.

"And you didn't tell me?" I turned to face him, the fight going out of me at his words to be replaced by a sense of betrayal. "Why didn't you say something? We could have warned Billy…or Sam. We could have _done_ something!"

"Because there was no way for us to alert Sam to what I'd read in Jacob's thoughts without letting him know that I'm still alive," he pleaded, and I shuddered, knowing he was right but wishing things could be different.

"Billy must be beside himself," I whispered hoarsely.

"Billy's fine," Esme contradicted, her tone and expression sympathetic as she walked toward me. "Your father can't understand his friend's attitude, but Billy's not acting the least bit worried."

That didn't make any sense to me, until Edward explained that Sam and the others would be able to hear Jake when they were in wolf form. If there was anything to worry about—other than the fact that my best friend was so upset he'd run away—they would know…and so would Billy.

I felt a little bit better knowing that Sam and the others could hear and find Jacob if they thought he was at risk. Still…I felt horribly guilty to know that my loss had affected Jake to such a degree. I missed him, but I suspected the pain I would feel if I lost Edward was in an entirely different league to the loss of a friend.

The reality was that my new life revolved around Edward, and not just because he comforted me when I was upset or worried. Despite the sadness and the craziness of the past few weeks, I couldn't deny there'd been times when I felt incredibly happy. Being with Edward was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. He loved to make me laugh, and he knew so much about so many things. We never ran out of things to talk about or for me to learn, and I learned new things so quickly now.

Like Spanish. I'd been studying it for years but after just a few hours practicing with Edward, I could speak it like a native. Learning French was even more fun, as I never grew tired of listening to him speak to me in the 'language of love,' sometimes pretending I hadn't quite got something just to hear him say it again.

"Now, repeat after me," he'd say, laying close beside me on my conveniently narrow bed. "Bella est la plus belle fille du monde," his flawless accent making the words sound like poetry.

I'd giggle and refuse to say that I was the most beautiful girl in the world—regardless of my vampire improvements—or whatever other overly complimentary nonsense he might come up with.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," I'd retort, not being entirely truthful. If it was more delicious kisses he was after, or even just more of my smiles, which he seemed particularly keen on seeing, then his sweet words were actually quite effective. As were the beautiful flowers he brought me—I'd never been given flowers before—or the little gifts and trinkets.

I wasn't normally comfortable with receiving gifts of any kind, but Edward kept them simple and mostly inexpensive. Well…after I'd practically had a fit at his giving me the entire works of Jane Austen, _first __editions! _But the pretty crystal heart he gave me to wear on a chain around my wrist was really lovely, as were the cute hair ties for when I hunted and needed to keep my hair out of the way. And I couldn't exactly say 'no' when he gave me a Kings of Leon t-shirt to match the one he liked to wear.

One of the best gifts of all wasn't…_tangible_.

Four days after the night we'd spent at his piano, Edward asked if he could play for me again.

"Are you sure?" I asked warily, remembering what had happened the last time. This _waiting_ business was difficult enough without putting ourselves under that sort of pressure.

"Its broad daylight and the family are all nearby," he replied with a rueful shrug, so I agreed.

At first Edward played melodies I was familiar with, some more than others. But then his fingers stilled and he lowered his head, his chin almost touching his chest.

"What is it?" I asked, stroking his shoulder with the hand I had resting there. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not wrong," he murmured and then shrugged, before peering up at me in a sideways glance. "I wrote you something, but I'm not sure if you'll like it."

I smiled. "I'm sure I will. Try me."

He pulled a face then shyly returned my smile, clearly nervous, and I was determined to _love _whatever he'd written, regardless. But I didn't have to pretend. It was so beautiful that I was spellbound from the very first note, and my throat tightened as a range of conflicting emotions welled within me. Fear was one of them and I couldn't understand why, but mostly I felt cared for, as if I was wrapped in comfort and…_love._I knew this song; it called to me like a lost but welcome memory.

"Oh, Edward," I whispered when his fingers stilled, and the haunting melody faded from the room, but not my mind or heart. Unable to resist, I reached up to kiss his cheek, capturing the edge of his mouth as he turned toward me. And then Edward was kissing me, softly…sweetly…repeatedly, our sighs and murmurs mingling as our arms wrapped around one another in a close embrace.

Remembering the last time we kissed at Edward's piano, and wondering if I had the strength to resist climbing back onto his lap, I moaned against his soft, warm, and oh, so mobile lips…and he stilled, our mouths hovering mere breaths apart.

"Sorry," he whispered hoarsely, his forehead coming to rest against my own.

"Don't be," I replied, earnestly. "That was beautiful."

"The song or the kiss?" he asked, pulling back enough to look at me with a shy, cheeky smile.

"Both!" I chuckled quietly, matching Edward's smile with one of my own.

Then his smile faded and he pulled back a little further. I frowned a query, and he tensed, drawing in a breath.

"I wrote that for you when you were changing," he explained, and it was my turn to tense, my breath catching in my throat. We hadn't talked about that time for a while.

"Did you…did you play it for me?" I asked, confused. I didn't think he'd left my side, and I knew his family wouldn't have brought me up from the hidden room during that time, so I couldn't understand how the music could be so familiar.

"I sang it for you, well…hummed it really. I call it Bella's Lullaby. It seemed to soothe you when things were particularly bad."

"Oh…" I sat back but kept my hand on his shoulder, not wanting him to think I was pulling away. "I remember…I remember you singing to me. It was the sweetest sound and helped more than anything else, like cooling rain on my burns."

Edward flinched at my words, dropping his head, and I reached to cup his cheek. A long moment passed while I waited for him to look at me again, and then I murmured, "I haven't heard you sing since then. Would you…sing for me again?"

"I'd do anything for you, Bella," he whispered hoarsely, and I reached to brush my lips against his once more.

We spent the rest of the day at his piano while he played and sang one sweet, soulful song after another, stopping only to exchange more kisses. Keeping our passion under control—to start with—we kept the kisses soft and gentle. But as the day wore on the pauses between the songs lasted longer and our kisses becoming increasingly heated until I forgot where we were and who might be listening.

Moaning hungrily against Edward's neck while he trailed his tongue along my jaw, nibbling and sucking his way to the sensitive spot he'd discovered just below my ear, I angled my body to align with his, well…as best I could while we sat side by side on the piano stool. Ready to throw caution to the wind and climb back onto Edward's lap, I was jolted back to reality by the sound of a long, low whistle.

"Man, you two got it bad," Emmett chuckled, watching us from where he was leaning against the entrance to the music room. "You _sure_ you guys want to wait, because we can leave you to it if you've changed your mind."

"We haven't…changed our minds," Edward rasped, reluctantly disengaging himself from my arms.

I wanted to tell him he could speak for himself, but I knew that was just the hormones speaking…and my newborn lack of control…and the mated vampire side of me. But still...the waiting was torture_._

"Well, in that case, I think it's time we broke up the love-fest and upped the tempo on those songs you guys are singing, or waiting ain't gonna be an option."

So Edward had 'upped the tempo,' his family joining us to sing the latest and not-so-latest hits, and it was so much fun—they were all incredibly talented singers and musicians. The biggest surprise had been my new, _tuneful_ vampire singing voice. I actually sounded good!

That unexpected discovery led to my decision to learn to play the guitar. Edward and I spent hours sitting cross-legged and facing each other while he taught me first the basics, and then more advanced techniques, as the combination of my newly enhanced memory—and _dexterity __—_meant my playing improved dramatically with every song.

I loved it—the singing, the playing, the time spent making music with Edward. It was something I'd never expected to be able to do, and I had to admit, it definitely added points in favor of being a vampire.

Reading was still one of my favorite things, but now I could finish a book in record time and then remember it word-perfectly to discuss with Edward afterward: Shakespeare, the classics, plays, poetry, history, science; I devoured them all.

The rest of the time, Edward and I watched movies, played board games—though _not _Twister as we both knew that was beyond our self-control—sometimes with his family, but more often alone as we couldn't seem to get enough of time just spent…_together._

"Let me teach you chess," he offered when I told him I'd never played. "It will be great to have a partner I can't cheat."

"Oh, so you think beating a beginner is any fairer?" I teased but let him teach me—and beat me—repeatedly. Edward's inability to read my mind didn't make him any less of a champion, and he won every game. But I was determined to improve. My hope was that with practice, and Jasper's expert tuition in military strategy and tactics, Edward wouldn't always be the one doing the check-mating.

Eleazar approached us one morning wearing a serious expression, with Jasper by his side.

"I think it is time we started your training, Isabella," he said, his accent making my full name sound quite exotic.

"Training?" I asked even as Edward nodded and lifted himself from the ground where we'd been sitting cross-legged and reciting Romeo and Juliet together. It wasn't Edward's favorite play, but he knew I loved it and so happily discussed it with me.

"It's important you gain control over your shield," Jasper explained and I jumped to my feet.

Even though Alice insisted that the Volturi had yet to make a decision—apparently when you'd been alive for thousands of years, rushing wasn't an issue—Jasper was still concerned that they'd come to investigate eventually. If the worst happened and they became aware of my existence, having control over my shield could make all the difference.

"Sure," I responded eagerly, wanting to help anyway I could. Considering the early successes I'd had with blocking Tanya's thoughts and repelling her when she'd tried to attack me, I thought it would come easily. It hadn't. Without anger or fear to motivate me, it was surprisingly difficult to make the darn thing activate at all.

"That's 'cos you're all loved up now," Emmett teased, the entire family having come to observe my first official training session. "All that kissing and cuddling your mate has robbed you of your mojo. Wait until you guys really get it on; you'll be so damned mellow you won't be able to swat a fly!"

Personally, I thought there was some truth to Emmett's words, but Edward took offense and proceeded to wrestle him to the ground like they were a couple of squabbling preschoolers. While I was worried they were going to hurt each other, or more likely destroy more of Esme's beautiful garden, a small part of me was secretly pleased that Edward didn't just meekly put up with Emmett's teasing. It felt like he was defending my honor.

"Don't worry," Jasper assured me when I went to intervene. "They're just letting off steam."

I wanted to believe him, but they seemed to be fighting in earnest. Then I heard Edward's laughter mingling with Emmett's, and I relaxed a little.

"Boys," Rose declared with a sniff when they returned to our sides all tousled and crumpled and with matching sheepish expressions on their faces. I nodded in agreement, trying to look disapproving but secretly relieved that they were both all right, other than a few tears in their clothing.

Then Edward waggled his eyebrows at me and my mock-stern expression dissolved. With an impish grin, he tugged me against him before nuzzling my hair and placing teasing kisses along the crook of my neck, and I couldn't contain my giggles…or my happiness.

"See, that's what I'm talking about, right there. It proves my point!" Emmett accused and I had to agree. Being around Edward did calm my moods, and while most of the time I could switch the shield on easily enough, increasing the intensity in cold blood when I wasn't upset or angry turned out to be virtually impossible.

"You can do it, sweetheart," Edward encouraged me, testing the 'itchy tingle' of my self-generated force field with his hand.

But when I tried to increase the strength of the shield, the mere thought of deliberately hurting Edward caused the opposite to happen, and the shield switched itself off.

"Not like you _need_ any more proof, but it's a mate thing," Jasper drawled, and I didn't know whether to scowl at him or laugh. It wasn't like I was denying that Edward was my vampire mate; I just wanted a say in some of the important decisions affecting my life…like choosing who I loved. Though the more time I spent with Edward, the more obvious it became that no one else could ever compare to the vampire who had taken my life…and was now doing his best to give me a new one.

"We'll need someone else to test it…_besides_ Edward," Eleazar suggested dryly, but it didn't make any difference. It just wasn't in me to deliberately hurt someone even if they said it was okay.

"I'll do it," Kate offered and for some reason Edward reacted with a hiss. "Easy lover-boy," she laughed. "I'll only use enough to get a reaction."

Frowning, I wondered what she was talking about, but then she touched me with her electrified fingers. I'd heard mention of her talent but hadn't experienced it personally.

"Ouch!" I cried. It hurt!

But the painful jolt did the trick, and my shield activated instantly—and _powerfully_—sending Kate tumbling backwards across the lawn.

As soon as I had the shield back under control, I rushed to where she lay sprawled on the ground. "Oh, Kate, I'm so sorry!" I cried feeling awful, but she merely laughed, pleased to be able to help with my training. Not that I did much training after that. Edward wouldn't hear of my being 'zapped' again, and I still couldn't get my shield to do much if I wasn't hurt, angry, or upset.

"At least we know the thing will work if you're under attack," Jasper said to reassure me when he found me sitting on the back porch, staring disconsolately into the night. I felt a bit useless that I couldn't get a better handle on my shield. Edward had gone off hunting with Carlisle, but only after I practically forced him to go. His irises had gotten so black they looked downright scary, and that was coming from the girl with the blazing red eyes!

"You're doing incredibly well, Bella," Jasper continued in that wonderful drawl I never got tired of hearing. Not that I preferred it to Edward's smooth, velvety tone, of course. "You haven't attacked anyone since Tanya, and that was understandable. Most newborns are in one fight after another if they're around other vampires…when they're not busy slaughtering every human they come across. You haven't even tried to make a run for it to go after human blood, which is…_astounding_," he finished on a laugh.

"Glad I amuse you," I replied, my tone as dry as the desert I wasn't likely to visit again in a hurry, considering the almost permanent lack of cloud cover.

"_Bella__…"_ Jasper admonished, picking up on my cynicism.

"Yeah…I know, I'm doing well," I murmured, trying to lift my mood. "And I am grateful that I'm not your typical newborn, it's just…"

"It's just that you still think about blood a lot of the time," Jasper answered for me as he took a seat on the step below mine.

I nodded, my expression glum. For some reason, failure to gain control over my shield made me feel less likely to succeed in what was really important to me…the most important thing of all.

"I sense how determined you are to never harm a human." My eyes shot to Jasper's face at his words. He couldn't read my thoughts, but he'd just picked up on my biggest fear. "It's a lot to ask for any vampire, let alone a newborn, but we're _all _here for you, Bella, not just Edward. We won't let you down."

Feeling reassured by Jasper's words, as I knew they weren't given lightly, the rest of the fairly short time until Edward's return had passed peacefully with his family watching over me.

I smiled at the memory and at the feel of Edward's arms around me as we lay together on his parent's back lawn, soaking up the sunshine…and sparkling like a couple of disco balls.

_~AFL~_

_**Like I said, a bit of an unusual chapter, but I hope you enjoyed seeing Edward's and Bella's relationship develop and Bella starting to adjust to her crazy, sparkly new life.**_

_**I'd love to hear from you if you feel like leaving a review. :D**_

_**xxx TLSue**_

_**Vampire Fic Recs:**_

_**I have some wonderful short stories to recommend today -**_

_**Two are by Content1, one of my favorite authors of all time (seriously, this lady should be published, she is that good!) : **_  
><em><strong>My Brothers Keeper .nets/7505863/1/My_Brothers_Keeper**_  
><em><strong>Modus Operandi .nets/7505885/1/Modus_Operandi**_

_**And a wonderful tale by Squeaky Zorro (she writes the best Esme - check out her other tales as well):**_  
><em><strong>.nets/7524823/1/Warm_Rain_Earth_and_Whiplash**_

_**I am just loving Content1's Full Moon Rising. It is the sequel to Harvest Moon, one of the best post Breaking Dawn stories ever! Don't be put off by the scary opening scene to Full Moon Rising, as C1 is very, very good at building the tension, but she promises me she's still a HEA kinda gal too. Phew!**_

_**~OB~**_


	28. Ready

_**Thank you so much to Stephenie Meyer for sharing the Twiverse with her adoring fans. Breaking Dawn 1 was just wonderful. Sigh… I didn't realize how lucky I was to be living in my rather remote corner of Australia (LOL! I normally feel totally out of the loop) but BD1 came out Thursday for us…Wednesday for the rest of the world #snort#. It was just wonderful, and I'm going to see it again tomorrow. I can't wait!**_

_**Thanks to my fantastic readers for all the wonderfully encouraging reviews and the support you've shown for this story.**_

_**Special thanks to Bonsoir for her lovely review saying that she appreciated that I'd given Bella the time she needed to adjust to life as a vampire and fall in love with Edward even though they're mates.**_

_**Thanks to Artri for giving Once Bitten its 1200th review…and for reviewing all the way through the story. :D**_

_**This chapter was preread by Hotwardfangirl and Content1, who gave me lots of great advice, and then carefully beta'ed by Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro. But then I rewrote the darn thing trying to make it less 'tell' and more 'show' – I'm listening gkkstitch! So…any errors in grammar are all mine.**_

_**Posted: Friday November 18th 2011**_  
><em><strong>Words: 4662<strong>_

Chapter 28

Ready

BPOV

"So, how's it feel being the strongest in the family?" Emmett asked with a big grin one morning. It was still early, and the household was slowly coming together after the long night.

I was worried that Emmett might hold a grudge after the tickling attack, and I shrugged at his words, feeling a little shy. He gave my shoulder a pat before continuing in that cheeky voice of his, "Next time we need to move a, I don't know…_house_, we'll get you right on it, hey?"

"I might actually need your help moving a house," I retorted dryly and he smirked in reply, easing my fears a little. "You still want that arm wrestle?" I teased and he recoiled in mock horror.

"No way! My ego's taken all the public humiliation it can stand!"

"But we're friends, right?" I asked hesitantly, just as Edward came down the stairs after taking a very short time away from me to shower and change.

"Of course, little sis." Emmett grinned and then he lifted me in a bear-hug before spinning me around in a circle. Not expecting the move, I squealed, relieved that my shield hadn't activated. We were both laughing when Emmett finally let me go.

Edward was not. His expression fierce, he flashed to Emmett's side and pinned him against the wall, an animalistic growl rumbling from within his chest.

"Edward!" I cried as the others came running, all except for Alice and Jasper who unfortunately were still away hunting. I wasn't sure why Edward was angry with Emmett this time, but I knew it was serious. Edward wasn't playing around.

"Whoa!" Emmett responded, obviously shocked. "Settle down, bro. It's okay."

"It's _not _okay!" Edward hissed, his lips curling back from his teeth that were scarily close to Emmett's neck.

"Read my mind, Edward," Emmett pleaded. "You know I don't see her like that. Bella's great, but she's _yours_…just like Rose is mine."

Finally understanding what was going on, I raced to put a placating hand on Edward's shoulder. Emmett wasn't fighting back, thank heavens, but the situation still seemed fraught with danger.

"I'm here, babe," I murmured, rubbing soothing circles on Edward's back while sending warning glances at the rest of his family. I appreciated their support, but he was _my _mate and I wanted to be the one to calm him…_and_ show him he had nothing to worry about. I only had eyes for Edward, and day-by-day I was becoming entirely convinced that I only ever would.

"Edward, sweetheart, please," I whispered, brushing my lips against the soft skin close to his ear and hoping that he was registering both my touch and words despite his fury and the continuous growl that rumbled up from his chest. "We didn't mean anything by it. I'm yours…only yours."

With a sharp glance my way, Edward shuddered and then seemed to come back to himself. Releasing Emmett, he angrily jerked away from us both, but I was having none of it and wrapped my arms around him from behind. I knew what it felt like to lose control—it had happened to me a lot since becoming a vampire—and I was confident that my touch would help Edward just as his helped me. What I didn't understand was why he'd gotten so jealous of his brother's playful actions.

It wasn't long before Edward turned in my arms and pulled me into his embrace, burying his face in my hair.

"See, everything's fine," I murmured, and he sighed, nodding slightly.

"Geez, Edward," Emmett said with a relieved laugh from where he still stood with his back to the wall. "You had me worried for a minute there."

Lifting his head, Edward shot his brother a rueful glance. "Sorry, Emm…I don't know what happened…I just…"

Emmett smiled. "Don't worry, man. You're only just found your mate. It makes you almost as crazy as a newborn." Looking pointedly at me, he added, "Sucks to be you, hey, Bella? You get the double whammy!"

We'd laughed, but Emmett and I were extra careful around each other from then on. Not that it stopped us having a good time together…just with Edward included.

"So, Bella," Emmett called to me one lazy afternoon, waggling a couple of game controllers in his hands. "Since you're _temporarily _stronger than me, how's about you let me prove who's superior on a more level playing field?...Xbox!"

I groaned, having just finished telling Edward that I'd had enough of being beaten at chess for one day. "I'm not sure how _level_ that playing field is Emm, since I've never played and you're a pro," I grumbled, but looking for an opportunity to try and mend the decidedly wobbly fence between my boyfriend and his brother, I dragged Edward along to watch my humiliating but hardly unexpected defeat.

"Not sure what it is about you Cullen _gentlemen_, but you seem to take an awful lot of pleasure in beating a beginner…and a girl," I teased and both boys had the grace to look at least a little shamefaced. Not that it stopped them from challenging me to play games I'd only just learned, or that Emmett would agree to an arm wrestle while I was still capable of beating him.

"One year and one day from your vampirization and I'll wrestle you," Emmett loftily declared, but I wasn't sure that was an offer I'd be wise to take up unless I learned to control my shield a little better, in which case…he was on. He seemed to be forgetting that newborn strength wasn't the only weapon I had in my arsenal.

Almost overnight, Rosalie and Alice became the girlfriends I'd always wanted but had never managed to make or keep. Renee used to blame that on our moving so often, but I'd always been different, and one thing I'd learned at the various schools I'd attended was that different didn't equate to popular in the world of teenage girls. The Cullens were different by definition, and that seemed to help me to fit in…sometimes a little _too _well.

I was hoping for a little sympathy when I complained to Edward about the ridiculous amount of time that Rosalie and Alice expected me to spend on my hair and clothes and makeup each day.

"I did warn you that they'd use you like an overgrown Barbie doll if you let them," he commented wryly, and I rolled my eyes. "Just say no, sweetheart." He smiled.

"But I don't want to hurt their feelings," I whispered, still not having mastered the whole sub vocal thing the others used when they didn't want their conversations overhead…well, from everyone other than Edward.

Of course, the girls heard and flitted straight to my side. I should have waited until Edward and I were in my room to tell him how I was feeling, but we were staying away from the secret, soundproof den of temptation as much as possible.

"Edward's right. You can say no, Bella," Alice rebuked me gently and I felt terrible. Rosalie looked really put out.

"Well, it's just that you guys are so into the whole fashion thing, and it's not that I don't like spending time with you, but…" I grimaced, hoping my clumsily spoken words wouldn't mean the end of our friendship.

"That's all we want, too," Rosalie replied, her lovely face lightening with a smile. "To spend some quality time with our new sister."

"But if fashion is not your thing, we're happy to spend time with you doing things that _you__'__d _rather do," Alice finished. "As long as you let us help dress you up for special occasions."

"Sure." I grinned, relieved. I didn't mind a little help in the dressing up department, as long as it wasn't all the time.

"How about we help Bella do some more cooking for her father?" Esme suggested entering the room, and I tensed. I hadn't asked to use the kitchen again after the day I'd made the lasagne, even though I was worried sick about Charlie.

It was Esme…I just didn't feel comfortable around her, though it had taken me a while to figure out why. She was just so innately mothering, and I couldn't help comparing her nurturing ways to Renee's. While I knew it wasn't Esme's fault that she was so competent and caring, I didn't like to think of my own mom as somehow…wanting.

From Esme's expression, I could tell that she'd picked up on my hesitation…and that I'd hurt her. Edward was watching me with a puzzled expression on his face, and I felt awful.

"Sure…" I murmured, looking to Esme and trying to sound convincing. "That would be great."

I swallowed hard, and Edward pulled me into a quick embrace.

"You'll be okay?" he asked and I nodded.

"What about you?" We hadn't spent much time apart in a while, and I wasn't looking forward to being away from him for long enough to prepare an entire meal.

"I wouldn't mind spending a little time with Carlisle since he's home from the hospital," Edward murmured, and I felt bad for the way I'd monopolized his time.

"Oh…of course." I tried to smile as I left him to go find his father while I went with Esme and the girls.

Trying to focus on something that I knew I enjoyed doing, I looked over the contents of the enormous—and now fully stocked—fridge-freezer combo, when Esme made a suggestion that surprised me.

"While we're cooking, why don't you tell us more about your mother? We've all met Charlie and know quite a bit about him, but we'd love to hear more about Renee."

I did a double take and spun to face Edward's mother. He'd never said anything about Esme having mind reading abilities, but I couldn't help wondering.

"Renee's not a very stereotypical mom," I explained, trying not to sound defensive. "She can be a little erratic, but she's really creative, and she has this way of embracing life wholeheartedly."

"She sounds wonderful," Esme surprised me again with her reply. "Tell us more."

Hesitant at first, I began to recount some of my favorite stories about growing up with my often funny, sometimes a little crazy mother. I told them about the trips we'd taken and the many and varied hobbies Renee had gotten involved in over the years… which made me miss her—a _lot__—_but it also helped me to enjoy Esme's company without feeling like I was being disloyal. After that, I spent most mornings cooking with Esme helping and Rose and Alice content to watch and occasionally join in the conversation.

It was a relief to make sure that Charlie was well cared for in my absence—my _permanent _absence. Since he didn't seem to mind Esme bringing him the meals I cooked, I was able to do what I'd always done and make sure he was looked after without giving away the fact of my continuing existence. It was a bittersweet accomplishment. While I stored away every scrap of information Esme gave me about how my dad was faring, I could tell she carefully edited what she shared, and I usually needed some time alone with Edward after her return. It had been three weeks—almost _four _since the accident—but I still found it almost impossible to believe that I could never see my parents or friends again.

The other person I turned to—beside Edward—when the sadness threatened to swamp me, was Carlisle. At first, I'd felt a bit nervous around the family patriarch, and if I'm honest, maybe a little resentful. We hadn't exactly gotten off to the greatest start, and I'd worried he'd be patronizing and controlling. To my relief, I found that he was anything but, and in a short space of time I came to value his company and unexpected friendship a great deal. He was a truly fascinating person with an incredible depth of insight and one of the most genuinely compassionate souls I'd ever encountered.

Souls.

It was funny how often Carlisle and I ended up discussing them when I couldn't remember having ever thought about the state of mine before, well…before I was changed into a vampire and spent three eternally long days believing I'd been sentenced to hell. It had been a shock to learn that Edward didn't believe that vampires possessed souls or would be allowed into heaven, though it went a long way toward explaining the _level_ of guilt he'd felt over having attacked me. He actually believed that _his_actions had robbed me of my eternal soul. Until I'd disabused him of that fact.

"So let me get this straight," I retorted after the longwinded and surprisingly illogical explanation he gave me when I confronted him after talking to Carlisle. "You believe that something that _you _did to me, without my knowledge or consent, has robbed me of _my_ soul? That, because of something that happened to me that I had _absolutely __no __say __in __or __control __over __whatsoever,_ God doesn't want to know me anymore and won't let me into heaven when I eventually die?"

Edward stared at me, dumbfounded, for a long moment, his mouth opening and closing several times with no words coming out. I was pleased to know I wasn't the only one who occasionally impersonated a fish.

"And are you also telling me," I continued, on a definite roll, "that Esme, the most motherly, caring person I think I've ever met; or Rosalie, who, even though she can't have children of her own, goes out of her way to help women who've been the victims of domestic violence and underprivileged kids; or Alice who has no memory of her family or where she came from but has more spirit and joy bubbling from inside her than I would have thought possible, have no souls either? And what about Emmett, with his huge heart or Jasper, who'd lay down his _life_ to protect the people he cares for—you included_._Do you honestly believe that _they _don't have souls? And I'm not even going to get started on Carlisle, because if you honestly believe that he doesn't have a soul, considering the way he's chosen to live his life, a life he didn't _ask __for _either_,_ then Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, you are seriously delusional and need to reexamine your belief system as far as I am concerned!"

At that point I stormed off to the applause of the rest of the family who, of course, heard every word of my tirade.

Edward found me sitting in his bedroom, listening to music and staring out the window into the forest. It wasn't like I was running away from him, of course, I just needed a bit of time to myself to calm down.

"Hey," he murmured, poking his head in the door, a sheepish expression on his face. "You feel like company, or would you like me to leave you alone for a bit longer?"

In answer I held my hand out, and he quickly crossed to my side to grasp it and sit beside me on the floor with our backs to the couch.

"Sorry I yelled," I murmured, not sorry for what I said but a bit disappointed that I'd lost control again.

"I deserved it." He shrugged. "I've been stubborn about this for a very long time. But when you put it like that, well…"

"Yeah…well…" I felt the last of my anger drain away, and I smiled shyly up into his beautiful face. If it wasn't his soul staring out at me from his dark, amber eyes, I didn't know what it was, well…other than love. But how could you have one without the other? God was supposed to _be _love, after all.

"Still convinced you don't have a soul?" I asked, but quietly this time.

Edward's soft smile faded, and I was worried he still doubted.

"Not anymore," he replied, his expression serious, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "I think I may have lost it for a while, if that's possible, but I've found it again with you."

The breath caught in my throat at Edward's words, they were so beautiful. It was probably a good thing vampires couldn't cry—not _really__—_or I would have been blubbering like a baby. Though I supposed I could have always asked for Jasper's help if my emotions got too out of control.

Edward's charming brother had stepped in quite a few times to help when I was having trouble, though he'd needed to less and less as the days went by, increasing his confidence in my surprising level of control. Added to this was Alice's and the family's renewed faith in her talent, now that she'd worked out how to see 'around' the wolves, and the fact that Sam and the wolf pack seemed to have accepted the Cullen's version of events.

I wasn't all that surprised therefore when Carlisle called us all together to bid farewell to the remaining Denalis who were heading back to their home in the north.

"Irina still can't find Tanya," Edward explained murmuring in my ear. "And they're worried about both their sisters."

"Yeah…of course." I nodded.

Though I still believed that what Tanya had done was pretty despicable—and I didn't want her anywhere near Edward—that didn't mean I wanted to see her family destroyed. I couldn't help feeling sorry for the three single female vampires who'd been alone for such a long time. While I might be new to being a vampire, it was obvious that finding one's mate made all the difference to how a person experienced this crazy way of life.

Which led me to thinking about the state of my relationship with _my _mate.

While the vampire side to me had known from the very beginning that Edward was mine—and had no trouble coming to terms with the idea of our being soul mates—the human side had needed a little time to get used to the idea. But I'd come to the place where I finally felt ready to say the words that Edward and I both needed to hear.

I loved him…it was as simple as that.

I may never have experienced love before, but I was certain that what I felt for Edward was the sort of love that would last a lifetime…or multiple lifetimes if need be. But I hadn't told him yet. I was waiting for the right moment.

That was one of the downsides to living with a family of vampires…a complete lack of privacy. While Edward and I were actually a little better off than the others, courtesy of my soundproofed room, Edward's inability to block out the thoughts of anyone within range, Jasper's talent for detecting emotions right through concrete and soundproofed walls, and Alice's penchant for predicting every little thing ahead of time all put a dampener on my romantic aspirations.

I didn't want an audience when I told Edward how I felt about him, especially not for the very first time. He'd been so patient and caring, telling me he loved me at least a dozen times every day and showing me in a dozen more. I could hardly wait to tell him that I felt the same way, though I hoped that my actions had already made my feelings clear.

Edward was wonderful in so many ways: kind, caring, thoughtful, funny…he was like the ultimate boyfriend. The way he looked at me, like I was the center of his world, the way he put my needs ahead of his own, the way he tried so hard to help me to overcome every obstacle that I found in my new life, the way I knew that he would literally lay down his _life _to protect me—not that I could imagine this life without him—I'd never felt so _cherished _before. I was Edward's priority at all times, and it was a heady thing, as was the realization that he was also mine. _His _happiness truly was my own, and I couldn't think of anything that would make him happier than hearing that I loved him the way that he loved me.

Excitement bubbled within me at the thought of finally getting to tell him those special words. And then there was that _other_ sort of excitement, a tingling anticipation that hummed like an electrical current within me every time I imagined what might come _after _I told Edward that I loved him. My vampire side couldn't wait any longer—_literally__—_but my human side was…nervous_._

I'd never expected to have a boyfriend that I was this serious about while I was still only seventeen, let alone be ready to make love to him after only being together for a few weeks. But my life was different to anything I'd ever imagined…those differences so profound that _not _making love to Edward was the thing that didn't make sense. From the comments made by Edward's family, I knew that our waiting for as long as we had was something of a miracle. But I could see no reason to wait any longer, and that knowledge filled me with an even greater sense of anticipation and, if I was honest…fear.

Emmett's Sex for Dummies book was no help, not that I'd gotten past the first few chapters. I'd been so intimidated by what I'd read and seen that I'd slammed it shut and hidden it away in the bottom of my cupboard, more confused than enlightened. Just thinking about it made my mouth go dry, and I'm sure my heart would have been pounding if it were still able.

_Edward __loves __you,_I reminded myself and not for the first time. I trusted him, and I knew that he wouldn't do anything that made me uncomfortable or that I wasn't ready for. We'd work it out together, the two of us…_that__'__s _if we could find any privacy to do so. While I knew I'd have to get over my squeamishness when it came to public and privately overheard displays of affection, I didn't think that wanting to be completely alone when I told Edward that I loved him the very first time—and for whatever we might want to share together afterwards—was too much to ask.

The dilemma was exercising my new super brain to its fullest capacity.

"Whatever are you thinking about?" Edward asked, his whispered words interrupting my reminiscing. We'd been lying out on the lawn all afternoon just enjoying the sunshine, but we hadn't spoken for a while.

Rising up on one elbow, Edward brushed away the frown lines creased into my brow. "Your expression has run the gamut of emotions this last hour, but I have no idea what's going on in here." He chuckled, tapping my temple with his forefinger.

Chewing on my lower lip, I tried to think of how to tell him what was on my mind without embarrassing us both.

"Just getting a bit stir crazy," I admitted, truthfully. While I'd enjoyed the games we'd played on the back lawn, the ten acres available to us was a stiflingly small patch of ground for a vampire. "Don't get me wrong. I love spending time with your family and all the stuff we've been doing together, but I haven't been anywhere but here in weeks, and I keep thinking about what you said about liking to run and climb and…"

My words trailed away when Edward's eyebrows shot up and he pulled back a little. Not a good sign.

"Hey, that's okay," I murmured with a sigh.

"No, you're right." He leaned down to brush soft kisses along my jaw line, his fingers gently stroking the hair back from my face. "I've been thinking about where I want to take you, the places I want you to see. I've just been waiting for the right time."

"We could only go where Alice says it will be safe," I offered and he smiled, reaching to cup my cheek with his hand. "And some time alone, just the two of us, would be nice," I admitted huskily, looking up at him from beneath my lashes.

Edward drew in a sharp breath. The hand that had been stroking my face froze along with the rest of him, his eyes darkening instantly, and I wondered if he'd guessed _why_ I'd like us to have time alone.

Worried that he'd think I was being too forward, I rushed to explain, but before I could speak Alice came racing out from the house.

"Yes, yes, and yes!" she cried, grabbing my free hand and lifting me up from the ground, dragging me away from Edward before dancing me in a circle.

"I've checked ahead from every angle, and tomorrow is going to be perfect for you to spend alone together—and one hundred percent safe. The wolves are occupied tracking the nomads over toward the east, and I've scanned a path right through the forest and all the way to Edward's, er…destination—a perfect choice by the way," she addressed the last of her rapid-fire words to my bemused-looking boyfriend who was yet to rise from his place, leaning back on his elbows on the ground.

Just looking at him lying back, all tousled hair and long lean lines, triggered a surge of such sweet love and longing that I wondered how I'd managed to contain it for this long. _Knowing_ that we were finally going to be able to do something about the serious backlog of desire that had built up around us wasn't helping my libido either. But for once, I didn't find the sensation frustrating, deciding to enjoy my last night of unresolved sexual tension. I had a feeling that after our day alone together in the forest things were going to be very different.

"I don't know, Alice. Are you sure?" Edward asked, finally standing but stretching and running a hand through his hair at the same time in a way that was seriously irresistible. Swaying a little on my feet, I heard Jasper chuckling as he approached. Edward's gaze snapped to my face, no doubt having read Jasper's assessment of my emotional state in his thoughts, and he pulled me into his arms, comforting me and aggravating the situation at the same time.

"She's sure," Jasper answered. "And so am I. Bella's doing great. Just listen out for humans, not that you're likely to come across any where you're headed. Alice has seen the entire day, 'black spot' free, so the wolves won't be an issue either as long as you're home before dark. That's when the wolves will be heading back. They shouldn't come close enough to be a problem, but it's better to be on the safe side."

I smirked at the very parental-sounding curfew, and Jasper winked at me.

"Thanks, guys," I murmured shyly. It looked like I was going to get my wish, after all; a chance to tell Edward how I felt about him in private.

"That's…great," Edward murmured, though he sounded a little uncertain, and I felt suddenly nervous. I was sure that Edward was more than ready to hear my words of love, but what if he wasn't ready for what I hoped would come afterward? I dismissed the thought as silly. He loved me—telling me just how much at least a dozen times a day—and he was a guy and he'd finally found his vampire mate after almost a hundred years of waiting. Of course we were on the same page.

_~OB~_

_**Hmmm...I wonder?**_

_**Thanks so much for your patience with me while I got our lovely, loved-up virgins to this point in the tale. It took a tad longer than I expected to get them here—and I think I may have earned a Masters degree in UST along the way—but we're finally here!**_

_**I hope you've enjoyed the journey as much as I have, and I hope you have as much fun reading the next few chapters as I did writing them. I laughed…I cried…I happy danced… Just saying. ;D**_

_**xxx TLSue**_


	29. The Meadow

_**Thanks to Stephenie Meyer for creating characters so wonderful that we couldn't help but fall in love with them. No copyright infringement intended.**_

_**I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply to every review this week. I'm on the mend from having been sick but still feeling a bit weary. Thanks for all your prayers and best wishes – they're very much appreciated – and thank you for all your wonderful, encouraging, insightful and very entertaining reviews. I'm so glad you liked Bella's little 'rant' about souls. LOL! I couldn't resist. **_

_**I'd like to say a special thanks to the following readers who took the time to review on their read through of Once Bitten this week: Blue Diamond Ring, Ellachanted, Momams, FleurdeLysff, cbzoo, and rbirdy23. You guys are sweeties!**_

_**This is an extra long chapter. I was going to split it in two but my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, talked me into leaving it as one. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. ;)**_

_**Posted: Friday November 25th 2011**_  
><em><strong>Words: 7827<strong>_

Chapter 29

The Meadow

EPOV

The thought of finally getting to spend a day alone with Bella, just the two of us, filled me with a mixture of excitement, anticipation, and…fear. My attempt to 'stay in the moment' as several of my family member's had suggested—a relatively new experience for me—was not going particularly well.

"Try not to overthink things, son," Carlisle advised. "Trust your instincts, and things between you and Bella will work out just fine. You're doing an excellent job helping her adjust to her new life."

While I appreciated his belief in me, it was difficult not to analyze every snippet of conversation between Bella and myself from the previous few weeks…every look…every touch.

Was she ready to tell me that she loved me? Did she in fact love me the way I loved her…irrevocably…unconditionally?

I yearned to hear her say the words though I knew I did not have the right to expect her to feel for me the way I felt for her. She certainly acted in an incredibly loving way. The past few weeks had been the highlight of my existence. I had never felt so wanted, needed, or _connected_ to another person before in my life. The bond growing between us was more than just a result of the vampire mating, of that I was sure…at least, it was for me.

There were still moments when the guilt and shame I felt about what I'd done to her threatened to overwhelm me. I'd even considered going away in the beginning…for a very brief moment. I hadn't actually needed the combined efforts of Alice, Jasper, and Carlisle—his being included in the intervention they'd staged was the equivalent of calling in the big guns, or so I'd heard from Jasper's thoughts—to convince me of the folly of my plan. Punishing myself by leavingwould hurt Bella, and that was something I would never intentionally do again for as long as I continued to exist.

Of course, I had stayed and, impossible as it seemed, had fallen ever more deeply in love with the most beautiful girl in all creation, even allowing myself to dream of our future together. Not that I intended rushing her in any way. I'd waited a hundred years for Bella, and I would wait for however long she needed. Time was of no consequence. If she'd still been human, I wouldn't have expected her to be sure of her feelings for many months, possibly longer.

But she wasn't human, and I was also aware of her vampire…_needs._ If I hadn't been—though not even I could be that obtuse—my family, the female members in particular, would have made sure that I was. But of course I knew. Bella wasn't the only one battling with the almost overwhelming desire to be physically intimate with her newfound mate.

So it was with a thrilling sense of anticipation that I checked for the ring box in my pocket once again, even though I'd only just confirmed its safety and location a few minutes earlier. Unable to suppress a grin, I felt the emotion that I'd only recently come to recognize as joy bubbling up within me at the thought of the next stage in this incredible journey…when Bella agreed to become my wife.

"Edward?" Alice approached where I was standing looking out toward the forest, her tone entreating as she showed me a picture of Bella and me running and laughing together. I'd been happy for her to show me which path I should take to keep Bella safe, but not the rest.

"No, don't tell me." I shook my head, mentally and physically backing away from her disclosures. For once in my life, I wanted what was about to happen to be mine, and mine alone…well, mine and Bella's. The words of love I hoped she was ready to share with me, the expression on her face when I proposed, her response…I wanted to see it all for the first time when it actually happened, not multiple times beforehand in all the varying permutations that Alice foresaw.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil things for you, Edward; it's just…" She sighed, and I tried to hide my smile. My mind-reading ability was actually superfluous, as I could easily read from Alice's expression how frustrated she was at my determination to keep some aspects of my upcoming day with Bella a surprise.

"Just what?" I conceded, knowing it was important I let her tell me if there was anything to be concerned about. Of course, I needed to know if Alice saw anything that might affect Bella adversely, such as an encounter with a human that she was far from ready to experience and could do her irreparable harm.

"You need to remember that Bella is from a different _time __period_ from you. Okay?"

I shrugged, relief flooding through me at Alice's innocuous disclosure. Of course I remembered that. The ninety-year age gap wasn't something I was about to forget.

Alice shook her head in obvious frustration, muttering words about obtuse young men who couldn't see the forest for the trees. But she blocked her visions behind a recitation of ancient Greek philosophy, for which I was grateful.

Reaching out, I pulled my much-loved little sister into an embrace and kissed the top of her head. "You know I appreciate all of your help and support, don't you?" I murmured, and she leaned back to look up at my face.

"Of course I know, silly." She smiled.

"It's just that I want to do this by myself, _without _your and Jasper's influence."

"I know." Alice sighed. "And I understand. Bella already said the same thing. She told me that she was grateful I wasn't going to be 'spying' on the two of you."

"She did?" My mouth fell open as I struggled to comprehend the import of Alice's disclosure. Then a huge smile stretched my cheeks. I was glad that I'd stopped Alice from revealing all she'd seen, as it was obvious that Bella and I were on exactly the same page.

I wasn't sure whether I should be cursing my two sisters for the fashion advice they gave Bella for our day in the forest or arranging for a special thank you present to be delivered immediately. They both liked Tiffany's, and I briefly wondered if Bella could be convinced to accept a gift from there also or if I should hold off on purchasing the diamonds and jewels I wanted to shower her with. She'd happily accepted the crystal charm I'd given her, which she now wore on a bracelet around her wrist, but only because she was unaware of its true monetary value. The instincts that Carlisle told me I should trust advised me to wait before giving her more jewels, well…other than the most precious one of all, my mother's ring that was currently burning a hole in one of the many pockets of my hiking shorts.

These thoughts were considered and analyzed in the fraction of a second it took for me to take in Bella's appearance when she came to stand at the top of the stairs. She was wearing a tight, royal blue sleeveless shirt, denim shorts—very short denim shorts—and a pair of running shoes. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she looked incredibly young, fresh, and…exposed.

I'd not seen so much of Bella on display before, well, other than the time she'd modeled the little black dress for Alice, a memory indelibly imprinted on my brain for all eternity. From her slender arms, well-defined shoulders, and the hint of cleavage revealed by the vee of her tight-fitting shirt, the incredibly long, long, shapely legs visible below her shorts…she was breathtaking. In fact, it was a good thing I no longer needed to breathe because one look at the stunning vision standing before me and I'd been robbed of the ability. My mouth hung open, and I could only hope I wasn't drooling.

My sisters were truly trying to kill me.

"Edward? Are you all right?" Bella queried as she made her way slowly and surely, at a very deliberate human pace, down the stairs, her shy smile telling me she knew exactly what was bothering me.

When she reached my side, I snaked out an arm and pulled her into a tight embrace, swirling and dipping her low to the ground before planting a kiss on the sensitive place at the crook of her neck, causing her to sigh and giggle at the same time.

"Yes, I'm 'all right' you little vixen," I teased, letting her up but continuing to hold her close. "But tell me, how am I supposed to think straight when you look so unbelievably amazing?"

Bella shrugged and bit her lip, and I whimpered. The action was both cute and yet decidedly sultry, and I wondered if my sisters had been giving her lessons in the art of seduction. It was a terrifying thought, as I could barely contain myself around her as it was. Bella's smile widened at my reaction, and she snuggled in against me, her lovely bare legs brushing against my own. I'd never appreciated shorts quite so much before.

"Okay lovebirds, you need to head off in the next five minutes if you're to stay on schedule," Alice advised, handing me a backpack which I threw over my shoulders. I wanted to ask her what we could possibly need to take with us, but decided against it. Whatever was in the bag would no doubt come in handy.

At her words, the rest of the family came to see us off, and Bella and I left in a flurry of well wishes. Emmett had considered throwing in some particularly ribald comments, but the growl that rumbled in my chest and the warning look I sent his way changed his mind.

Bella shot me a querying look, but I distracted her with quick kiss to her cheek, clasped her hand in mine, and together, we ran from the house. In just a few seconds, we reached the river that meandered through the trees at the edge of the forest behind the house. With a grin and a cheeky wink—Bella didn't even hesitate—we leaped across the water and landed on the rocks at the far side of the river with ease. Laughing together, I led Bella through the forest at a speed I normally only ever traveled alone, though not at my absolute top speed. I was still the fastest vampire I'd ever met, newborn or otherwise, but her incredible strength meant she was actually able to keep up, one of her incredibly powerful strides matching two of my much faster ones.

After we'd traveled deep into the forest for some time, the trees and bushes passing by in a sparklingly clear array of brilliant greens, browns, and blues, with flashes of primary colors taking the shape of butterflies and birds, I slowed down a little.

"Hey! I thought vampires weren't supposed to get tired?" Bella teased, but I continued to slow our pace.

"No, don't stop!" she cried, tugging me forward. "Running is so much fun!"

"Yes, but so is kissing!" I retorted, and Bella ground to a sudden halt. The next thing I knew, I was backed up against the nearest tree with Bella plastered against me, her lips moving passionately and most definitely in tune with mine. We kissed without holding anything back, our tongues stroking, tasting, exploring each other's mouths as our lips molded together from first one angle, then another, brushing across sweet, sensitive skin…suckling…caressing…communing.

Bliss…

"Ahhh…" we sighed in unison, stopping only long enough to exchange face-splitting grins before I spun us so that Bella's back was to the tree, and I was the one pressed firmly against her.

I'd given up worrying about Bella being able to feel the shape and size of my desire. It wasn't something we'd addressed directly, but as vampires, it was virtually impossible to hide our responses from one another. The scent of Bella's arousal was now my favorite, if somewhat agonizing, perfume. When we embraced, I could feel her beautiful breasts swell against the wall of my chest, no matter how many layers of clothing she wore. The pebbling of her nipples that occurred at my slightest touch was a significant and yet delicious form of torture.

Moaning, I buried my face in Bella's hair, inhaling her sweet perfume as my hands traced the shape of her bared shoulders. Pulling back a little, I cupped her face with my hands, smiling lovingly into her adoring face. Then, to my surprise, Bella hitched one long, slender leg over my hip and around my waist, tugging me even more tightly against her and bringing her hot, damp feminine core into perfect alignment with my now straining arousal. At the same time, with her fingers tangling and tugging at my hair, she pulled my face down to hers so that our mouths met in a kiss more passionate—more _dangerous__—_than any we had shared to date.

Desire exploded within me, and I couldn't resist the urge to grind my hips against her. Bella ground back, and if it hadn't been for my almost century-long battle to develop my self-control, the outcome would have been assured. But groaning, fighting the beast within me with every ounce of self-possession I contained, I pulled back.

"Sweetheart?" I panted, responding to the strain of my self-denial with a deep, primal urge for oxygen, even though I did not technically require it.

"I know…I'm sorry," she whispered, and my eyes, undoubtedly pitch black with desire, took in her shy expression. She didn't appear upset that I'd stopped us, which was unexpected. "Not yet," she murmured, ducking her head coyly, and I couldn't quite stifle a whimper.

"You mentioned something about climbing?" Bella asked, cocking her head to the side, and I took a step back and to the side, wondering how exactly I was going to manage running let alone climbing in my current physical condition. As if sensing my discomfort, Bella walked away for a moment on the pretext of studying a wild orchid growing near the side of a small brook not ten yards from where we'd stopped. Grateful for the opportunity, I rearranged the reinforced clothing that was being severely tested by my extreme state of arousal and, taking some deep, calming breaths, brought matters at least under some semblance of control.

"Climbing," I agreed, my voice still decidedly hoarse, and Bella shot me one of those smiles that I feared came naturally, but that if she were ever to let loose on the male population would wreak utter havoc. I sobered at the realization that Bella's smile would either be the death of the men who viewed it—as I imagined the thoughts and images that would flood their minds—or me. I'd gotten a taste of what it would be like when I'd seen and heard what the schoolboys had been thinking about her at Forks High. It had been barely tolerable, but Bella and I had only just met and I hadn't yet been aware that she was my mate. Now that I loved her so completely, the situation would be infinitely worse.

"Baby? Edward?" I'd not even seen Bella flit to my side, my vision having darkened completely with the rage that rose within me at the thought of other men thinking vile, sexual thoughts about my mate. "What is it?" she asked, gently prizing my fisted hands open and holding them soothingly between her own. "Was it about before? I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…" She shrugged, her teeth capturing her plump lower lip and worrying at it as she took unnecessary blame for my reaction.

"No, Bella, no…" I murmured, opening my arms and welcoming her into my embrace. "It wasn't anything you did, just a little problem I foresee that I'm going to have to get a handle on before you're ready to venture out in public."

"What sort of problem?" Her sweet forehead crinkled into a frown of curiosity, and I smoothed it with a forefinger.

"_My_ problem," I assured her, before dropping a quick—_chaste__—_kiss on her glistening lips.

"You can tell me, you know. I might be able to help."

Bella's entreaty caught my attention. My natural, masculine inclination was to tell her not to worry her sweet head about it as solving problems was my domain. But I'd witnessed enough arguments, and heard the thoughts going on in the minds of the female parties involved—both vampire and human—to know how little Bella would appreciate that response. She'd like the truth, and if I was _man_ enough, I'd tell her.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself for her disappointment in me. "I was just thinking how impossible it is going to be when we go out in public, and I hear the thoughts of other men…_wanting _you." I admitted, embarrassed.

"Oh…you're worried you'll be jealous!" Bella exclaimed, a radiant smile lighting up her face.

"Well, you don't have to be so thrilled about it," I grumbled.

Bella immediately attempted to stifle her reaction, sucking in her cheeks with her teeth to try and hide her smile, and I laughed at the resultant expression. At times like this, if I'd been human, I'm sure I would have been fighting back tears, as I wondered what miracle of miracles had brought this most perfect of all creatures into my life. I didn't deserve her…but oh, how I wanted to.

"Climbing," I reiterated, my voice hoarse again but for a different reason. "There's a place I want to take you with a very nice view," I understated, and I led her once again on a mad dash through the trees, ducking and weaving amongst the leafy, green canopy of trailing vines and overhanging branches.

When we'd reached our destination, I released Bella's hand and took off up the side of a huge pine, knowing that she'd be right behind me. Laughing like children we raced to the top, where I pulled her into my embrace with one arm while holding lightly to a sturdy branch with another. A fall from this height would not, of course, permanently damage either of us, but I couldn't bear the thought of seeing Bella tumbling to the ground, bouncing and crashing off branches on her way.

"So…what do you think of the view?" I asked when we'd stopped giggling and exchanging slightly more subdued kisses than the ones we'd most recently shared. We'd paused on our journey to take a closer look around us—even when there really wasn't much to see—and used the opportunity to take turns pinning one another against the nearest tree, or boulder, or fallen log. For now, all we'd done was kiss…long, slow, smoldering kisses while we held each other closer than close, followed by urgent, desperate, heated kisses. With tongues tangling, we'd tasted and breathed and _absorbed_ one another before forcing ourselves to stop, and whichever one of us could manage it first taking off to be chased and caught and spun laughing in the other's arms.

"The view?" she whispered and my eyes dropped to her soft, plump and oh-so-kissable lower lip. "I think it's breathtaking," she murmured, licking her lips and causing me to have to grip more tightly to the branch I was holding, as a fresh surge of desire rose within me. She hadn't even _looked_ out toward the sound.

"Bella," I growled, the sound rumbling within my chest, and she giggled the most delightful sound before turning in my arms to face the wide river meandering below us. Her gasp was quite rewarding. Pulling her back snugly against my front, which just happened to bring the tempting curve of her bottom against my groin—I might not be human, but I was all male—I rested my head on her shoulder, my free arm tucked around her waist but below the _too_tempting curve of her breasts.

While I had come to agree with both Carlisle and Bella that being changed into a vampire didn't affect the nature or existence of one's soul, I no longer cared whether I'd be allowed entrance into heaven one day. Nothing could be more perfect than being with Bella.

Sighing, she turned her head to catch my eye. "Oh, Edward…it's amazing. I can't believe what it's like up here. Things like this just don't exist!"

"They do in my world," I purred against the side of her face, and for the first time since Bella came into my life, I felt intensely grateful that we were both vampires. One lifetime with Bella would not be nearly enough.

We admired the view and each other, enjoying a multitude of tantalizing kisses in between pointing out different sights and sounds. I decided that the top of a very tall tree was a place I would like to visit with Bella again…_after _we were married.

"So, about the whole 'flying squirrel' thing," Bella murmured after we'd been sitting quietly watching the patterns the shifting cloud cover made on the sparkling waters winding to the horizon before us. "Are these the sorts of trees you were talking about jumping between?"

I tensed and stopped breathing, trying to remind myself that Bella was vampire, not human, and more than capable of leaping the distances involved. But we were a long way from the ground, and my innate desire to see her protected at all costs clearly affected my response.

"_Not_ these ones?" she questioned, sensing my anxiety and turning to face me.

"These trees are fine," I admitted with extreme reluctance. "But…would you mind humoring me and taking your first leaps from a little closer to the ground?"

Rosalie would have raged at my over-protectiveness and perceived misogyny, Alice would have relieved my concerns by showing me the outcome ahead of time, but Bella just smiled and nodded…to my profound relief.

"Thank you," I breathed, as I tugged her against me. "It's not that I don't think you are more than capable, I just…"

"I understand," she murmured against my chest. "I can't bear the thought of anything bad happening to you, either."

We pulled back and smiled at one another, before making our way a little over halfway down the tree. We were still high enough that a fall would have almost certainly killed a human, but close enough to the ground that my protective instincts calmed down to a manageable level.

"Shall I show you first?" I asked and Bella nodded, holding onto a branch and leaning out a little as she studied the ground below, her eyes a little wider than usual.

"We don't have to if you don't want to," I assured her. "But you'll actually be fine. The biggest risk is that you might overshoot as you're so strong, but you've gotten very good at judging the distances with the practice you've had from your nightly hunts."

Bella smiled at me, and while I would have loved to have it confirmed through her thoughts, I was fairly sure she appreciated my showing confidence in her ability.

So without hesitation, I pushed off from the branch on which I was standing and 'flew' through the air sixty feet to my target, a relatively short jump and one I easily achieved.

"Wow! That looks like fun!" Bella called to me, and then took off toward a different tree much further from the original. With my heart in my mouth, I watched her soar through the air, the epitome of grace and strength, and land with ease on the branch of a tree three times as far as the one I'd leaped to.

The game was on and, squealing with laughter, she took off through the forest, soaring from tree to tree, with me in hot pursuit. Before too long, Bella had worked her way up to the higher branches, and I caught up with her at the top of an enormous tree, high up in the mountains. Wrapping ourselves in each other's arms, we turned as one to face the truly spectacular view of the snowcapped mountain range that stretched from horizon to horizon. It was early afternoon, and the sunlight glinting through the clouds shimmered with a rainbow of colors to our vampire eyes.

For a fleeting moment, I considered proposing to Bella then and there, but we hadn't yet taken the time to just sit and talk and I sensed—_hoped_—that there were things she wanted to say. My meadow, even higher up in the mountains, and yet with a feeling of security and intimacy about it, was the place I had been envisioning, and the place to which I now desperately wanted to take her.

"Come. There's somewhere special I want to show you," I murmured, and Bella's expression turned from one of peaceful contentment to surprise.

"More special than this?" she replied, her tone reflecting her disbelief.

"Special to me," I amended, and her eyes widened.

"Then show me," she whispered, her pupils dilating, and I knew I'd made the right decision. From this day forward, the meadow would no longer be _mine_ but _ours._

We were quiet for the rest of the climb, approaching the meadow from over a mountaintop rather than the easier, closer-to-home route that I normally took. At one point, as we scaled the side of a sheer cliff face, I experienced a moment of déjà vu. Then I recalled Alice's visions from the first day I'd met Bella—the day I'd attacked her and she'd begun the change to make her like me—and once again I wondered how I could have possibly missed the fact that the beautiful creature climbing agilely up one of the steepest, most difficult mountain faces imaginable, could have been anything but vampire?

The thought was sobering, but I refused to let it cast a dampening pall over our afternoon together. My sense that a momentous occasion was about to occur increased as we made our way toward my destination, but then the familiar, rousing sound of an animal heartbeat caught both our attention. Bella turned to me, her eyes glowing red and wide with alarm.

"Edward? I don't know if I can stop myself. I know I was supposed to wait until we get home tonight to hunt, but I'm incredibly thirsty, and it's been getting worse for a while now."

"It's all the activity," I explained, silently cursing myself for being such a fool.

A breeze wafted the animal's scent—a large buck, I was guessing—toward us, and Bella stiffened, cutting off her breathing. Her hand went to her throat, and I imagined her agony.

_Why __hadn__'__t __Alice __warned __me __about __this?_ I raged internally and then reminded myself that I hadn't exactly given her the chance.

Coming to a quick decision, I released the restraining hand I'd placed on Bella's arm. "It's all right…go," I urged, and she looked to me, confused.

"But what about…_afterward?_"

"We can run it off. That's what I used to have to do when I was alone," I assured her. "It won't take that long."

"I don't know, Edward. What happens when I catch you?" Bella's eyebrow rose archly and her tone was quite smug, and I had to admit to being tempted to let her think it was possible—and letting her capture me—but I ruthlessly pushed the thought from my mind.

"You can try, sweetheart," I teased. "But I'm pretty fast when I don't hold back."

"Hold back?" Bella retorted, her hands going to her hips. "You better run fast, Edward Cullen, because I'm in the mood to catch you, hunt or no hunt!"

Laughing I watched Bella take off in the direction of the buck, following her at a discreet distance. It was a joy to watch her take down the majestic beast with quick, merciful efficiency and a minimum of fuss. She'd come a long way in three weeks. Watching her drink the animal's blood caused the venom to pool in my mouth even though I'd taken the precaution of hunting the night before. But my thirst wasn't the only appetite that was whetted, and I briefly considered that I might have made a grave tactical error. With the way I was feeling, Bella wasn't the one who'd be doing the chasing…_I _would!

After she finished drinking, she frowned and called to me asking what she should do with the carcass. The question impressed me anew with her thoughtfulness and the amazing control she showed for a newborn, inspiring me to rise to the occasion and _not_ give in to my primal lust…_this _time. Bella deserved better.

"Just leave it," I called. We were high enough up in the mountains for it not to matter.

"Okay," she called back, turning toward me. Something about the way she stood, her posture, the tilt of her head as she stared at me across the clearing where she'd taken down the buck, told me that while her bloodlust had been assuaged, the other lust was rising to the fore. "Time to run," she murmured, a lilting, mesmerizing tone to her voice, and I actually took a step toward her, before shaking my head and doing, not what I wanted, but what I knew I should.

We ran for miles, with me managing to keep one step ahead…just. I took us on a meandering path around and through the mountains, but within easy distance of our meadow. After about thirty minutes, I sensed a change in the atmosphere between us, as Bella's calls and taunts became teasing and lighthearted.

"Okay…you can stop now," she called, and I ran in a semi-circle back to her side.

"You sure?" I queried, still keeping a slight distance.

Shrugging, Bella closed the distance between us, a rueful expression on her face. "Yeah…I'm sure," she murmured sounding resigned.

"What is it, sweetheart?" I asked, pulling her into my arms.

"Well…" she mumbled, not quite meeting my eyes. "It's a bit humiliating chasing your boyfriend for miles through the forest because, well…_you __know__…_and he's not only heaps faster than you," this comment was accompanied with a glower in my direction, "but he isn't even the slightest bit tempted to, well…give in to temptation."

The last was said with a huff and a feeble attempt to pull out of my arms, but I wouldn't allow it and quickly captured Bella's delectably pouting lips with my own in a searing kiss.

"Oh…he was tempted, believe you me," I murmured when we drew the kiss to a reluctant end. "But he was trying to be noble."

"I don't think I like 'noble,'" Bella muttered, and I chuckled.

Not long after, we came across a small, bubbling brook, and I shrugged the bag that I'd virtually forgotten about off my shoulders. Knowing Alice, she would have packed it to survive whatever antics she saw Bella and me getting up to on our run. My expectation was that it would contain a towel as we both needed to freshen up. Sure enough, upon opening the bag, I spotted a towel, a picnic blanket—which while not strictly necessary, would come in handy when we reached the meadow—and oddly, a change of clothes for each of us.

The last items puzzled me, and I could only assume that Alice had foreseen the possibility of an alternate ending to Bella's hunt. There was no other reason that I could think of why we would need to change our clothes.

After washing the dust and grime of the day off our faces and hands, we took off our shoes and sat with our feet in the stream for a while, not _needing_ to wash off any sweat—we didn't…_sweat_—but just enjoying the feel of it. Then as if we both felt the same sudden surge of impatience, we quickly donned our socks and shoes and sprinted hand-in-hand the remaining distance to the meadow.

"Oh…my…" Bella breathed, when we broke through from the heavily wooded forest into the open and then turned slowly in a circle to take in the beauty of the location. An almost perfectly circular clearing ringed by trees, the meadow was ablaze with color, as wildflowers of every possible description had sprung up with the spring rain and warmth, interspersing the verdant carpet of wild grasses with vibrant splashes of life.

"It's one of my favorite places," I explained, exceedingly pleased at her response.

"I can understand why," she murmured, walking slowly through the waist-high grass and running her hands over the tops of the feathery flowers.

Stopping in the middle of the field, she turned to me. "How long have we got until we have to head back?"

"Quite a few hours." I smiled, so glad that our day was not yet over. "Alice included a picnic blanket. Would you like to sit for a while?"

Bella nodded before ducking her head shyly. In a flash, I flattened a large enough circle of grass on which to place the blanket, and then lay down on the blue and white checkered rug, patting the space beside me.

Bella took an undeniably deep breath, as if steeling herself for something, and then came to lie beside me. With our heads propped on our hands, we lay facing each other, smiling shyly.

"Thank you for a truly wonderful day," she murmured, idly tracing patterns on the patch of blanket between us. We hadn't touched for close to four minutes, and I itched to capture her hand in mine but worried I'd seem desperate. Fortunately, Bella had no such qualms and walked her fingers close to where my hand lay waiting. Our fingers entwined, and we sighed in unison.

"You are very welcome," I replied, and she cocked her head to the side. "For the day…though you're the one who made it so wonderful."

Bella's smile widened, and I closed the distance between us to place a soft kiss on her even softer lips. We took the opportunity to kiss for a while…gently…sweetly, keeping our passion in check, but then, uncharacteristically, Bella drew away.

"Sweetheart?" I murmured when she sat up and crossed her legs, still keeping one hand in mine. I mirrored her actions, desperately trying to keep the smile that wanted to break free from spreading across my face as anticipation welled within me.

"There's something I want to tell you," she murmured, ducking her head and letting her lovely hair—the first thing I'd ever noticed about her—fall in a warm, brown curtain around her face. I was glad that the hair tie that had held it back had fallen out when we were flying between the trees, because I loved seeing it loose and flowing around her.

"I'm listening," I whispered, rubbing soothing circles on the back of her hand with my thumb.

Taking another one of those deep breaths; she looked up to meet my gaze.

"I just…I wanted to say…I mean, I'm sure you already know, but…" she stammered to a halt, her lovely features twisting into a grimace.

My smile faded, and I moved closer until our knees bumped, wanting to reassure her. "Sweetheart, whatever you have to say, it will be fine," I murmured, and Bella tangled both her hands in mine. She nodded at my words, but I could see her swallowing repeatedly.

_Why __was __she __so __nervous? _I worried, my stomach cramping as I was flooded with unexpected insecurity.

"I love you," she blurted suddenly and then ducked her head.

All the tension drained from my body, and there was no way I could suppress the smile that stretched my cheeks. Joy—sublime and transcendent—washed over me, and though I knew it was a physical impossibility, it felt as if my heart swelled within my chest until there was no room for anything but the love I felt for the beautiful girl sitting across from me…the girl who owned me body, spirit, and soul.

"I love you, too," I returned softly, reaching to gently stroke her cheek as I ducked down to capture her eye. "With all my heart…for always."

Bella looked up at me through her lashes as she leant against my hand, a soft, alluring smile that twisted my insides—but in a good way—curving her lips.

"That's how I love you, too…forever…the real deal," she said almost urgently. "It's not just a crush, and I know it's not going to go away even though I'm still young, and people say you can't really know when you're my age. But I _do_ know…I love you, Edward." Her fervent expression tugged at my heart, and I pulled her onto my lap, hugging her close.

"I know, sweetheart, at least…I hoped," I finished with a chuckle.

"You hoped?" She leant back and caught my eye, one of her perfect eyebrows arching in query.

I shrugged. "A man can hope, can't he?"

"A man?" Bella waggled her eyebrows at me, and I laughed, ecstatically happy.

"Man…vampire…whatever. I love you, Isabella Swan, and you love me…what else could possibly matter?"

"Nothing…nothing at all," Bella whispered, snuggling in against me.

I couldn't contain the sigh of happiness—and no little relief—that filled my lungs with sweet mountain air and then rushed out to send strands of Bella's hair flying away from her face.

"Sorry I made you wait so long," she murmured sounding a little sad.

"Bella, it's been three weeks! You've got nothing to apologize for," I insisted.

"But you knew straight away that you loved me…that I was 'the one,'" she grumbled, her expression puzzled. "You didn't seem to doubt it at all."

I shrugged again. "I've been surrounded by this kind of love for a long time. I guess I just knew how to recognize it when it happened to me."

Bella hung on my words, and I reached to cup her cheek with my hand, running my fingers softly along her jaw line. "You're perfect for me, Bella. Who _else_could I ever love the way that I love you? And I'm determined to be perfect for you, too."

"You are," she whispered softly, mirroring my actions and reaching to cup my cheek with her fingers.

We smiled at one another and then my eyes closed as I savored the moment.

"I've waited for you for such a very long time," I murmured, and Bella rested her head against my chest while I nuzzled my lips against her hair. Then she squeezed me tight, before moving off my lap and lying back and slowly stretching out upon the blanket.

"You don't have to wait any longer," she whispered, peered up at me through long, dark lashes with eyes that smoldered.

The breath caught in my throat as my eyes roamed her body…slowly…worshipfully. Her warm, brown hair, shot through with glimmering red highlights, cascaded around her like a silken cloud, while her lush, rose-tinted lips curved into a soft, shy, and yet incredibly beguiling smile. The creamy skin of her neck melded with the arresting sight of her collarbone dipping toward the smooth skin of her chest and the tantalizing glimpse of cleavage I could see exposed by the vee of her shirt. My eyes skirted over the too-tempting mounds of her breasts then caressed the indentation of her waist and decidedly feminine curve of her hips—my heart stuttering in my chest regardless of its supposedly silent state. Her long and oh so lovely legs drew my eyes all the way down to the incredibly cute feet she'd bared by kicking off her shoes when we'd first sat down. Then I slowly made the return journey from the tip of her toes to the top of her head, inch by perfect inch, absorbing and admiring her stunning beauty…awe-inspired and increasingly aroused.

When my eyes met hers again, Bella rose up toward me, her arm reaching out and drawing me down to her side. Our mouths met before we were even fully prone, my body stretched partially over the top of hers. The feel of her soft, full lips caressing my mouth was almost too much to bear, as my body brushed hers, soft to hard, gentle, feminine curves fitting to hard, masculine planes.

"Oh, Edward…" Bella moaned against my mouth as her arms wound around me, stroking and massaging the muscles of my back. Urged closer by the tug of her hands pulling me down and the restless moving of her body beneath mine, I lowered myself to lie fully on top of her. We groaned in unison at the feel of our bodies fitting together and deepened the kiss that had started with the gentle brushing of our lips but soon became open-mouthed and urgent

This kiss was even more fervent…more passionate…than the ones we'd shared on our journey to the meadow. It was as if something within us had been set free, and all the love and longing we felt for one another was expressed in the way our lips moved and molded together.

As my body pressed firmly against Bella's, I felt every curve…every indentation…our clothing the barest, flimsiest of barriers. Trying not to imagine what it would feel like when there was literally nothing between us, I focused on the kiss as my tongue probed the depths of her mouth, exploring and tasting and claiming what was now and would always be mine. Opening to me eagerly, Bella's tongue slid against my own, stroking and tasting as we plundered each other's mouths, first from one angle and then the other. Gasping, we inhaled one another's sweet, aroused scent, drawing it deep into our lungs and heightening our pleasure.

I let the kiss go on for far too long…far longer than was wise. Eventually acknowledging that I was rapidly losing all semblance of control, I forced myself to pull back. Softening my kisses, I drew my lips away from Bella's mouth and dragged them teasingly along the line of her jaw, caressing and nibbling my way to the soft and sensitive skin below her ear…a place I'd discovered where I could make Bella purr.

She arched beneath me, shuddering, and I smiled even as I continued to tickle and tease the shell-like curve of her ear with my tongue. Then I felt her smooth fingers stroking the bare skin of my belly, and I gasped in a breath as desire clenched my insides like a fist.

"Whoa…" I breathed, pulling back, but Bella wasn't having any of it.

"No stopping this time," she murmured against my mouth, her hands seemingly everywhere at once: in my hair, tugging on the strands in a way that was so different than when I did it to myself…pushing me to my limits. Bella's fingers, stroking my scalp, the insistent pull as she ran them through the strands of my hair was…_erotic__…_sending tingles of pleasure racing down my spine_._ I almost moaned my complaint when she abandoned her endeavors, but then her hands found their way _under _my shirt, teasing, caressing, exploring. Her soft, smooth fingers brushed over my nipple and I sucked in a breath…rapidly losing what little control remained to me.

I groaned, part plea, part gentle rebuke. Then glancing down I saw that she'd opened her shirt all the way to the waist, and her lacy, dark blue bra was clearly on display…along with the creamy curves of her breasts. I could see the unmistakable dusky rose color of her nipples through the lace, nipples that strained taut with desire, and my mind temporarily froze.

"Bella," I whispered hoarsely when speech was possible. "You need to stop undressing yourself."

"Why?" her words were practically a moan, and I couldn't seem to stop the action of my hips rocking against her. "Do you want to do that part yourself?" she asked, her words hitting me like an icy splash, and I sobered…fast. This was so wrong of me…tempting her like this…making stopping almost impossible.

Pulling back, I sat up and quickly redid the buttons on my shirt, then ran my hands raggedly through my hair, cursing my insensitivity and lack of consideration.

"What?" Bella demanded, her voice still soft and raspy with desire. "Don't tell me you don't want to, because seriously…I won't believe you."

"Oh…I _want_ to," I replied with feeling, the passion I was desperately trying to suppress causing me no small pain. "But not yet…not like this."

"Why ever not?" Bella sat up too, but left her shirt gaping, though I wasn't sure if the torture was intentional or not. "It's perfect here. We don't have to worry about any _humans_ coming by…there's no family to listen in and know what we're doing…no weirdly gifted vampires to make comments or suggestions or predict how it's all going to turn out!" She threw her hands up at the last statement, frustration evident in her tone.

"It _is_ perfect here, for all those reasons," I agreed. "And I want us to make love here in our meadow, and we will…one day, but not today…I'm sorry."

Bella's frown was mixed with pain, but when I reached for her she brushed my hand aside. Rapidly buttoned her shirt, she stood and paced a few feet away, before stopping with her back to me, her shoulders heaving. Was she crying?

"Bella, please…" I pleaded, not knowing what to say to make this better.

Breathing hard she spun to face me, her face a mask of torment. "I told you that I love you…and I meant it. What more do you want from me, Edward? Why are you making us wait when we both know it's been nearly impossible to last this long?"

Bella's pain and frustration were obvious as she turned to walk further away from me.

"Bella!" I called urgently, springing to my feet. "I'm sorry…I thought you understood."

She stopped but kept her back to me, her shoulders drooping. "Understood what?" she murmured despondently. "That I'm not good enough for you even though I'm a vampire? That you don't want me as much as I want you?"

"No! No, that's not the reason at all!" I cried in desperation, racing to her side and taking her hands in mine. "That's not why we're waiting!"

"Then why, Edward? Why do we have to wait?" she pleaded.

This wasn't how I wanted to do this, but my mind was in a panic, and all I could think to do was blurt out the truth.

"Because we're not married yet!" I exclaimed, and Bella's eyes widened with shock.

_~OB~_

**_Ummm….ducking for cover here. I'd love to hear what you thought of this extra long, and I hope, extra special chapter….I think. But please be kind. I'm doing my best to make this as perfect as I can for our lovely, loved-up vamps. _**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	30. Promises

**_Stephenie Meyer created Twilight, and despite all the angst it's been causing me lately, I still love it. No copyright infringement intended._**

**_Thanks for all your lovely reviews. I'm sorry I lost a few of you over the ending to the last chapter and because this story has moved at an admittedly slow pace for a while. I'm well aware that if I was writing for a publisher (and this story was original and mine to publish!) I would have to cut at least 25% to speed up the pace. But that's one of the things I personally enjoy about fanfic…the opportunity to take some time and explore the nooks and crannies of a story that would normally be skipped over in a more conventional format. _**

**_I can also guarantee that not everyone will approve of the path I've taken in this chapter, but I explored as many options as I could, and this is the one I decided to go with in the end as it worked best with the exciting events coming up. I guess I'm asking you to trust me that I know where I'm going with this story, and I'm sure that you'll be happy and relieved to know that the pace will pick up considerably from this point onward._**

**_Thanks to my lovely and incredibly supportive betas and prereaders, Chloe Cougar, Squeaky Zorro, content1 and hotwardfangirl. I came awfully close to throwing in the towel this week and probably would have if it wasn't for all your support and encouragement. Thanks guys…your friendship means more to me than all the reviews in the fandom!_**

**_Posted: Friday, December 2nd 2011  
>Words: 4296<em>**

_"Then why, Edward? Why do we have to wait?" she pleaded._

_This wasn't how I wanted to do this, but my mind was in a panic, and all I could think to do was blurt out the truth._

_"Because we're not married yet!" I exclaimed, and Bella's eyes widened with shock._

_~OB~_

Chapter 30

Promises

BPOV

"Married?" I reeled, my mind struggling to comprehend Edward's meaning. "But…but…we're only seventeen years old. You can't be serious!"

There was no mistaking the surprise—and the _hurt—_that appeared in Edward's eyes at my words. He dropped my arm and stepped back, while I stood frozen in place.

"I'm _not_ seventeen, Bella…I only look it," he said, his expression bleak. "I'm over a hundred years old…and I've been waiting for you all that time."

I hadn't meant to hurt him, but I was momentarily speechless. Reaching out a hand, I silently implored him to give me a moment to think, as Renee's many lectures about the dangers of marrying young and the stresses of early parenthood flashed through my mind. I knew she hadn't been trying to put me off marriage altogether; she just didn't want me to make the same mistake that she and Charlie had made.

"But, Edward, I really _am _only seventeen," I pleaded for him to understand. "I can't get married…not at _my_ age, and I can't believe you're only telling me this now, right at this moment when we were going to…" Shaking my head in exasperation, I tried desperately to get a grip on my emotions. "Does it even matter what I want?"

"Of course it does!" Edward seemed bewildered by my words. "Bella, we're going to be together forever. That is what you want…isn't it?"

"You know it's what I want." I closed the distance between us and reached out to grasp the hands that hung limply at his side. Recalling the day when his mother and sisters had told me about their experiences of finding their mates and then _marrying _them almost immediately, I supposed I should have seen this coming. But they'd all met and married decades ago. Times had changed, and people thought differently now.

"I love you, and I want to be with you—only you—forever," I said, holding his hands in front of my chest, wanting to reassure him. "But marriage? I mean, sure, when I'm older or after more time passes or…whatever you call it."

The look in Edward's eyes softened. "Sweetheart," he implored, his tone gentle. "If we were human, I would wait for as long as you wanted. I would court you, and we'd take our time, but we're vampires—_mated _vampires. Waiting for years until you're _older_ just isn't going to work."

It was my turn to look confused until I understood the meaning of Edward's words. "No!" I gasped. "I mean…of course we can't _wait. _I think it's a miracle we've lasted three weeks!"

Cocking his head to the side, Edward frowned. "You don't want to wait, but you're not ready to get married?" he asked, clearly puzzled.

"Look, I realize that in _your_ time people waited until they got married—or they were supposed to—but times have changed, and sex before marriage isn't this huge taboo anymore. We don't have to wait…" My words trailed off at Edward's shocked expression, and with a sick feeling in my stomach, it dawned on me that our thinking was literally worlds apart. It was obvious that he wanted to be married…first. Shaking my head, I closed my eyes for a moment before looking up to see Edward watching me closely, his expression wary and tension emanating off his body.

"Why do I feel like I'm the villain of the piece, trying to steal your virtue?" I laughed humorlessly, feeling embarrassed and bewildered at the same time.

"It's not _my_ virtue I'm worried about," he answered seriously.

"What? You're worried about _my _virtue?" Edward's expression told me I was right, and I groaned. I was the one who'd convinced Edward that vampires even _had_ souls, and while I didn't want to dismiss his concerns, it felt like my efforts were coming back to bite me.

"Seriously, you're worried about my _soul?_" He nodded, and I tried not to let my exasperation show. "Please…don't be. I'm fine with this. I don't think the rules apply quite the same way that you think they do."

"But what if you're wrong? I don't know if it's too late for me, but I will do everything in my power to make sure that _your _soul is kept safe, Bella." Edward's impassioned words took me by surprise. "I'll do my utmost to make sure that you never harm a human, I promise, but there's not a lot I can do about most of the other rules. Deceit is an inevitable part of our lives as vampires…it has to be. We try to take care of those less fortunate than us. We even attend church when we can, though I tended to stay away in the past as I didn't think my, er…_heart_ was in the right place. But this is one thing I can do for you—for _us—_to protect you and to start things off right."

I stood for a moment digesting Edward's words. A part of me wasn't a hundred percent sure about his logic, as I couldn't help thinking that God probably had bigger things to worry about than whether a couple of teenage vampires had sex for the first time before or after they were married. But Edward clearly saw it as a big deal.

"I can see that this means a lot to you—having God's _blessing, _I guess you'd call it—but are there any other reasons why you'd like to be married first?" I asked, trying to understand.

Edward blinked a few times, and then a soft smile lit his face. "Because I love you more than anything, and I want to commit myself to you in every way possible." He lifted a hand to caress my cheek as he spoke and I leant into his touch. The look in his eyes reached deep inside of me, and I swayed toward him until our mouths met. We sighed into the kiss, reveling in the reconnection, but then Edward drew back a little, his expression turning rueful. "And, if I'm honest, Bella, I want to know that you're mine and committed to me in the same way. To me, marriage is a declaration of our love and commitment, a way of saying that we belong to one another…officially…irrevocably. It's old fashioned, I know, but I want that _before _we make love for the first time."

I brought my free hand up to stroke Edward's chest, wanting to reassure him of my love. His words had touched my heart, and put like that, marriage didn't sound quite so scary, but I was still a little confused.

"But it's not like we can go to a church or have a minister come and marry us, though I suppose Carlisle could do it..." I mused, thinking of Esme's and Rose's stories.

"Emmett's the one with the celebrant's license," Edward interjected, and my mouth dropped open.

"You're kidding, right? _Emmett?_ You'd have your crazy brother, _Emmett,_ marry us?"

Edward frowned. "Not necessarily," he muttered. "I thought we could discuss our options…later."

My mind boggled at the thought of Emmett even having a celebrant's license, but I forced the bizarre image aside, trying to refocus. Edward saw marriage as a way to show our commitment to one another, a public declaration of our private feelings…though, of course, _his _family would be the only ones to know.

The thought caused a sudden ache in my chest, as I realized that there was no need to worry about my parents reacting badly to my getting married so young. They would never even know. A dry sob caught in my throat, and Edward pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me.

"Sweetheart, what is it?"

I shook my head, doing my best to suppress the grief that had risen up and would overwhelm me if I let it.

"It's just a lot to think about…a big decision," I murmured, and Edward nodded, his expression solemn.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I shouldn't have expected you to automatically see things the same way as I do. You are right; I am from a different era, and times have changed."

"You can say that again," I muttered rolling my eyes, and Edward chuckled softly, but then he sighed and reached to gently stroke his finger along my jaw.

"You didn't choose this life—I didn't _give_ you any choice—and I don't want you to feel that you have no choice now." Edward took a deep breath, as if he was steeling himself for what he was about to say. "Whatever you decide, Bella…however you want to proceed…the choice is yours."

I nodded, grateful and relieved that Edward was willing to compromise if necessary, despite the fact that this clearly meant a lot to him. Looking directly at my fears, I couldn't deny that I needed to put some of my old, _human_ reasoning behind me. I was committed to Edward forever with a love that was never going to fade. There was no going back—or going home—for me. Renee's otherwise sound advice simply didn't apply to my new life. While I'd never pictured myself getting married at seventeen, neither had I pictured becoming a vampire. But if I'd met Edward under any other circumstance and if by some miracle he had still fallen for me, then committing myself to him for the rest of my days would have been the only possible outcome.

If we were both human, I would have wanted to wait awhile before we married, though if I was being honest, the waiting would have been mostly due to worry about what other people thought, as I was sure that my feelings for Edward would have been just as intense and long-lasting.

Drawing in a deep breath, I came to a decision and reached up to gently cup his cheek with my hand.

"You're right," I murmured and Edward's eyes widened. "Our feelings aren't going to change. It's not something I would have thought about until you mentioned it, but I like the idea of us making vows to show our commitment to one another." I smiled at the thought and at the love I saw shining from Edward's eyes. "I can see that having God's blessing is really important to you, and I would like to know that we had it, too."

"So…so you agree?" Edward's voice was filled with surprise.

I nodded, shyly smiling up at him through my lashes.

"As long as you're sure," he asked, though there was no disguising his relief…and excitement.

I nodded, shyly smiling up at him through my lashes.

"Wait!" he exclaimed. "I want to do this properly. I've been looking forward to this for a while now."

"Oh…okay." I smiled more broadly, feeling nervous and excited and surprisingly…_ready _to hear what he had to say

"Just give me a minute." Letting go of Edward's hand, I turned aside. Dusting myself off, I straightened my clothes, embarrassed to have to take a second to undo and redo the buttons of my shirt correctly. "Okay…all set," I mumbled nervously as I faced him once more.

"It's going to be fine," he reassured me with a smile. "How about we go back to the blanket?"

Nodding jerkily, I let him lead me back to the middle of the meadow where we sat on our picnic blanket facing each other once again, our hands linked. Connected once more, I was relieved to feel my nervousness fade away to be replaced by a sense of excitement.

"I love you, Bella," he whispered, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on my lips, and I resisted the urge to climb onto his lap and take up where we'd started earlier. Having come to my decision, I was actually looking forward to Edward's proposal…and hopeful regarding the outcome.

"I love you, too," I murmured, and we sat and smiled at each other for a moment before he got to his knees. It seemed the right thing for me to mirror his actions, and so we knelt facing one another, and then, with Edward holding both my hands in his and with his beautiful, amber eyes gazing down at me with adoration…he proposed.

"Isabella Swan, I promise to love you forever…ever single moment of forever." The look of love in Edward's eyes left me in no doubt of his absolute sincerity. "You are without doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I ask that you would do me the extraordinary honor of agreeing to become my wife. Marry me, Bella, and I promise I won't ever let you down."

My supposedly still and silent heart stuttered in my chest, and I swayed a little where I knelt, Edward holding me safe…just as he promised. I thought of all the things I wanted to say, but for now, only one word mattered.

"Yes," I whispered, nodding and smiling at the same time.

Edward's smile was breathtaking, and I threw myself into his arms. For a long moment—a moment I would treasure forever no matter how long my new life might last—we held each other close, the love that welled up inside me overflowing and mingling with the joy emanating from Edward.

"There's one more thing," he murmured, leaning back to gently caress my cheek with his hand. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a ring box which he flipped open to reveal a beautiful, vintage-looking oval ring covered with tiny diamonds.

I gasped. "Oh, Edward…it's beautiful," I murmured, looking from the stunning ring and up into his shining eyes.

"This was my mother's ring…my _birth _mother's," he explained as he removed it from the box which he put aside. Then he took my left hand in his and gently slid the ring onto my wedding finger. It fit…and _felt_…perfect.

"You like it?" he asked, his expression and the question endearingly insecure, and I nodded eagerly.

"It's perfect, Edward…I love it."

Edward's smile stretched as wide as mine, and then we were standing and I was in his arms and he was kissing me and laughing and spinning me in circles all at once. Giddy with happiness, we eventually came to a stop, wrapped in each other's embrace.

"I'm going to love you forever and ever, Bella Swan," Edward murmured just as his lips closed with mine in a searing kiss. My eyes fluttered close, and I lost myself in the sheer delight of having his mouth moving surely…perfectly…and in rhythm with my own. Edward's arms around me made me feel safe, his warm, firm body pressed to mine made me feel like I was home, and the hands that roamed my body let me know how much I was wanted.

My own hands held Edward close as I leaned into him, wanting to let him know how much I loved him with every touch, every caress, and every breath that left my body and mingled with his own sweet scent. We continued to kiss for long, lovely moments that I would treasure in my memory forever. But eventually, I pulled back.

"Now it's my turn," I said, my voice trembling despite my determination.

"Your turn?" Edward's eyebrows rose but he let himself be led back to the now rumpled blanket. I quickly straightened it and then knelt like we had before. Edward mimicked my actions, his expression curious.

"Bella?"

"Just a moment," I pleaded, taking some deep, fortifying breathes before beginning. "Now that I've agreed to your proposal, I would like you to consider mine, as there's something I want to ask you."

"Of course…anything." Edward nodded, albeit a little warily, and I continued.

"I've agreed to marry you…and I _want _to marry you," I assured him when his eyes widened in alarm at my initial words. "It's just that I don't think I can marry you at the moment with only _your _family at the wedding. It wouldn't seem right to me. I only lost my parents a few weeks ago, and I can't bear the thought of celebrating something so important and special without them."

Edward frowned and went to interrupt, but I gently placed a finger over his mouth. "My turn?" I reminded him, and he nodded for me to continue. I let my hand drop and Edward immediately grasped it in his. Swallowing hard, I took a deep breath before continuing. "I know that my parents can't _ever_ be at our wedding, but the thought of choosing a dress and having my hair and makeup done and my mom _not_ being there to cry and fuss and probably make a scene at the reception…" my words trailed off and Edward lifted my hands to gently, soothingly kiss the back of my fingers.

"Go on," he urged.

"The thought of Charlie _not_ being there to take my arm and keep me from falling when I walk down the aisle…" I swallowed hard and Edward did too.

"None of my friends from the reservation would be there. I mean…Jake probably wouldn't want to…" Edward and I hadn't talked about it, but I wasn't blind to the fact that Jacob must have cared for me far more than I ever realized to react so violently to my supposed death. "But Emily, and Leah and the guys… I never really thought about getting married before, but I know that I can't go through with a proper wedding ceremony—even though I'm sure your family would make it amazing—this soon after losing everyone. It just wouldn't seem right. I'm sorry."

Edward sat back looking stunned, and I waited for his response.

"So…what are you saying, Bella. You _do _want to marry me, but not until _later_?"

"We both know that later isn't an option," I admitted a little ruefully trying not to pull a face. It was a miracle we'd lasted as long as we had, and I was pretty sure Edward felt the same.

"Then…what?"

Taking another deep breath, I looked up into Edward's eyes. "I'd like to suggest a compromise," I said with as much confidence as I could muster.

A slow, but curious smile curved Edward's mouth, and he quirked his eyebrows, encouraging me to continue.

"_I _propose that we get married _today_…here…just the two of us." Edward's eyes went wide as saucers, but he didn't speak, so I hurried to explain. "Since it wouldn't be legal either way, it's more about the promises we make to one another…before God, if you like to think of it that way. And seriously, what better place could there be than here? It's so beautiful. God just _has _to be here, don't you think?"

Edward nodded, his smile and the look in his eyes so loving that my heart swelled. My confidence grew, and I continued.

"Esme said that she and Carlisle made their own vows to one another. I know you were there to witness them, but if God is our witness then surely that's enough, don't you think…?" Running out of steam, my voice trailed away.

"I think that is more than enough," Edward replied, his voice soft and low. "And I think that is a perfect proposal…perfect for the two of us."

Overcome with relief, my shoulders sagged, and Edward wrapped me in his arms, but then inexplicably, nervousness began to flutter in my belly.

"I mean…we can wait if you'd prefer," I mumbled against his chest. "You know…take some time to prepare. Come back another day."

"I don't want to wait," Edward chuckled, and I looked up to see him smiling at me, his expression so tender and loving that I couldn't help but smile in return. "You're right, Bella. Now is the right time, and this is the perfect place. Maybe one day later we could do something with the family if you want to, but marrying you here…now…it's the perfect compromise. Making our own vows…promising ourselves to each other…I couldn't think of anything more wonderful. And I know exactly what I want to say," he concluded confidently.

"Oh…" I breathed, and then swallowed hard, realizing I had no idea what _I _should say.

"Would you like me to go first, to give you some time to think?" he murmured, his fingers rubbing soothing patterns on the back of my hands.

I nodded, not even having the words to reply to his question. I had a feeling my vows were going to be a lot simpler—and _shorter—_than Edward's.

"Let's stand," Edward suggested, and he helped me to my feet. With our hands clasped together, we stood facing one another in the middle of his beautiful, flower-strewn meadow. Chewing on my lower lip, I tried not to fidget, but then Edward reached to stroke one of his long, smooth fingers gently down the side of my face, and I felt my nerves slowly calm, my confidence returning with the comfort of his touch.

"Ready?" Edward asked looking deep into my eyes, a soft smile shining lovingly on his face. I breathed deeply, smiling in return, and Edward began to speak the words that would join us together forever, his words firm and deep.

"I, Edward Cullen, take you, Bella Swan, to be my wife;to have and to hold from this day forward…for better or worse…for richer or poorer…no matter what life may bring our way…for as long as we both shall…_live_." The look in Edward's eyes caused my throat to tighten. I trembled, and he paused and stroked the back of my hands with his soothing fingers. "I promise to be faithful to you," he continued…softly…surely, his smile reaching deep inside and warming my heart, chasing away my fear. "I promise to love you and to cherish you forever…every single day of forever."

"Forever," I repeated, and swayed toward him. Edward steadied me with his hands, his smile and expression letting me know that it was my turn. I didn't know the vows like he did, but I knew what was in my heart, and suddenly, I knew exactly what I wanted to say.

"I, Bella Swan, take you, Edward Cullen, to be my…_husband_." That wasn't a word I'd expected to be using in relation to Edward and myself anytime soon, and I had to take a second to catch my breath before continuing. "No matter what this life may bring, I promise to love you and cherish you…to honor and encourage you…to walk beside you and support you in every way that I can…for as long as I can. I'm yours, Edward…only yours…forever.

"Forever," Edward whispered and we smiled at one another, the love we felt shining from our eyes.

"Now what?" I whispered.

Edward's face lit with such joy that it took my breath away.

"Now it's time for the pronouncement," Edward murmured, and then he took another deep breath before saying in a clear but solemn tone, "In accordance with the vows we have made to one another, I now pronounce us husband and wife."

Edward's smile lit up his face like the sun, or so I thought. It took me a second to realize what had happened, but at that very moment the clouds had parted above us, and a ray of sunshine beamed down upon us both, illuminating and reflecting off the crystalline surface of our skin and granting us the best benediction of all.

"I think someone approves," I murmured, admiring the light dancing around us and forming rainbows, like light reflecting off a prism. The rest of the meadow was cast in shadow with only the spot where we were standing ablaze with glorious sunshine. It seemed like a message to me…and a blessing.

"Now we're up to the fun part, _Mrs._ Cullen," Edward murmured, refocusing my attention as he pulled me into his arms.

"Oh…really?" I teased. "And what part might that be, _Mr._ Cullen?"

"The part where the husband—which would be _me—_gets to kiss the bride—which would be _you_."

Edward was nothing if not thorough in making sure we stayed as true to tradition as we could…considering our far from orthodox situation. His head lowered to mine as I reached up on my tiptoes, and our mouths met in a kiss that was sweet and chaste but imbued with all the love and longing in our hearts. The light continued to swirl around us as we kissed and kissed, caressing each other's bodies with our hands. Edward's fingers made their way slowly down my back, causing tingles of pleasure to race down my spine and radiate out along my limbs, until he shocked me by cupping my bottom and lifting me the last few inches that he needed to press the juncture of my thighs firmly against his suddenly very prominent arousal.

I gasped and pulled back from his mouth. "Edward," I giggled, amused by his eagerness, though it was a relief to know that I wasn't the only one who was impatient.

"What?" he murmured, his tone feigning innocence. "Don't you want to move on to the next phase in making our marriage legitimate?"

"And what phase would that be, husband of mine?" I whispered huskily.

Edward's eyes darkened as I watched, the lids lowering until all I could see were the glittering slits of his dilated pupils. "The part where I make love to my beautiful wife," he murmured hoarsely as his lips once more met mine.

_~OB~_

**_Hope you liked the chapter. 'Finally!' up next. _**

**_xx TLSue_**


	31. Perfect

**_Stephenie Meyer might fade to black…but I don't! No copyright infringement intended._**

**_I am so glad that you all enjoyed our lovely couple's unique and very personal wedding in the meadow. Thanks for your support and all the wonderful reviews, and I'm sorry if I missed replying to anyone this week. Real life pressures and my other story, A Forbidden Love, unexpectedly receiving 600 reviews in the last week – sure didn't see that one coming! – have kept me a bit busy. But Once Bitten is still my priority, and I'm so excited to 'finally' get things moving and be able to share the rest of the story with my faithful readers. :D_**

**_Thanks as always to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, for your excellent work and encouraging words, and to Content1 for prereading and being an ongoing inspiration. You guys are the best._**

**_I'd like to say a special thanks to hotwardfangirl for helping me whip this story (and my often illogical, OOC self) into shape over the last few months. I'm going to miss working with you over the summer, but I appreciate the help and great advice you've given me for the outline, so hopefully I won't 'jump the shark' on the home stretch! :) _**

**_Thank you to yeye85 for giving Once Bitten it's 1400th review!_**

**_Updated: Friday December 9th 2011  
>Words: 7147<em>**

Chapter 31

Perfect

EPOV

Holding Bella in my arms…my wife…my beloved…was beyond anything I had ever hoped for or imagined in my long and previously lonely existence. While I'd valued Carlisle's and the rest of my family's friendship and the unfailing support they'd offered me in my single state, there were times when the future had stretched before me an endless and seemingly futile procession of years. But not anymore…not with Bella by my side.

"I love you," she murmured against my mouth, drawing my attention back to the increasingly ardent kisses we continued to share and savor. Our passion was rising, mine at a virtual fever pitch, and the relief I felt at knowing that this time we didn't have to stop was almost overwhelming.

"Love you, Bella," I whispered against her lips, my hands finally free to map the delicious contours of her body though I still moved relatively chastely. While the last thing I wanted in this moment was to be reminded of the countless sexual thoughts and fantasies I'd been an unwilling witness to over the decades, I knew I would be a fool not to take at least some of what I'd heard and observed into account. Making sure that our first time was as wonderful for Bella as it would undoubtedly be for me was my absolute priority.

As my lips trailed a line of caresses across her smooth, creamy cheek and along her jawline to my ultimate destination, the sensitive skin just below her ear, I quickly catalogued every relevant piece of information I had gleaned over the years about how to pleasure a much-loved wife. Above all, I must not rush: the biggest and most common mistake made by eager young men…and the most selfish. Having been privy to the hurt thoughts and disappointed expectations of so many women over the years and the falsely and self-indulgently triumphant assumptions of their male partners, I was well aware that, physiologically, men and women functioned very differently. I would not make the same mistake and selfishly take my pleasure while leaving Bella confused and wanting. It would have been easier if I could have read her thoughts, as they would have directed me as to how to move, which touch was preferable, at which places to linger, what speeds were optimum…but I could still find the answers I sought if I just took my time and _listened_ to Bella's nonverbal cues.

_Like now_, I mused, slowly coming to the realization that she had frozen in place and was watching me out of the corner of her eye, even as I continued to nuzzle below her ear.

"Bella?" I lifted my head, taking in her bemused expression.

"You're overthinking this, Edward," she murmured, and I blinked in surprise. _She read my mind?_

"No, I can't read your mind," she answered my unspoken thought, confusing me thoroughly, "but I am getting to know you, and I know you worry too much."

"I just want this to be perfect for you." I offered sheepishly.

"Perfect for _us." _She corrected, reaching up to cup my face with her hand. "And it will be, because we are perfect…together."

"So you're not _nervous?_" I marveled, and her eyes widened.

"I'm terrified!" she retorted, and every muscle in my body tensed in reaction to her fear. Alleviating it became my new priority, even if it meant _not_ going ahead with consummating our marriage.

Then she laughed, her eyes alight with mischief. "I was teasing, Edward…well mostly. But either way, you're not getting out of this so easily…not this time. We _are _going to make love, and I am _sure _we will be fine."

The air rushed from my lungs, and my body sagged with relief. Then I chuckled, too.

"I don't know what I ever did to deserve you, Bella, but you are truly adorable," I whispered, leaning down to capture her smiling lips with my own. "Come," I murmured, leading her by the hand to the blanket that I had already decided was going to be kept in memoriam as one of my most treasured possessions. Unwilling to let go of Bella's hands or to cease enjoying the delightful kisses she peppered over my face and neck—sweet brushes of her lips against my sensitized skin that were already testing my resolve—I quickly kicked off my shoes and socks, using only my toes. And then we were kneeling, facing each other on the blanket, both barefoot but otherwise clothed.

That was about to change, and the thought caused venom to pool in my mouth and my already straining arousal to press eagerly against the weakening fabric of my hiking shorts. It was a wonder the material hadn't torn already, I thought wryly, as Bella pressed her lower body tightly against me, causing us both to groan at the increased sensation.

Leaning her upper body away from mine, Bella reached to undo the buttons on her shirt, but I stilled her hands with my own. Her eyes shot to my face, her expression wary.

"Let me," I murmured, and there was no disguising the relief in her expression. "I'm sorry about before, Bella." I could only hope that the intensity of my tone and gaze conveyed the depth of my regret and sincerity. When I'd stopped Bella from undressing herself earlier, telling her I wanted to wait until we were married, I'd never meant to hurt her. "I didn't mean for you to think that I didn't want you. I will _always_ want you, sweetheart…_always."_

"Good." Bella nodded decisively. "Because I will always want you, so we'll be okay."

"Oh, more than just okay, I suspect," I whispered huskily, leaning down to kiss her lips, first with tenderness, then more deeply as I tasted the lower lip she liked to nibble on. Drawing it between my lips to suckle and soothe, my passion was unleashed as she opened her mouth to me.

"Edward…" she moaned breathily while her hands tangled in my hair, and I did my best to hurry in response to the unspoken plea of her body pressing needily against me while paradoxically keeping the 'no rushing' rule fixed firmly in the forefront of my mind.

With uncharacteristically trembling fingers, I reached to open the first button of her shirt, slowly slipping it through the hole and releasing the slightly straining fabric to part beneath my fingers. I could have had the task accomplished in a fraction of the time—suppressing a snort, I acknowledged that I could have had us both naked in the same time it would take a human to blink—but I worked my way down the front of her shirt, opening the buttons slowly…carefully…one…by…one. Halfway down, the back of my knuckles brushed against one of Bella's breasts, and we both gasped. Looking up, our gazes met, and in the darkened depths of her eyes, I felt like I was seeing all the way into her soul.

"Keep going," she whispered huskily, urging me on, and I willingly obliged.

When all the buttons on her shirt were released, I carefully separated the material, revealing the soft, full, and creamy curves of her breasts swelling above the lacy material of her bra. Swallowing hard, I gently pushed the shirt off her shoulders and down her arms, letting it fall to the ground behind her.

"Oh…Bella…" I marveled at the stunning sight before me. Her smile was a little tentative, and I could imagine she might be feeling nervous for me to see her like this for the first time. But the look of awe on my face must have registered, for her expression slowly changed as a sweet, sultry, burgeoning sensuality stole over her like a cloak, taking my breath away. I wanted to tell her how incredibly beautiful she was, to wax poetic…lyrical…hell, musical even…anything to find a way to express my adoration and the wonder that consumed me at being allowed even this glimpse of her goddess-like form. But I was rendered speechless…and it was quite possible that I was drooling.

"Now your shirt," Bella breathed, and I snapped my mouth shut…I hadn't even realized it was hanging open. Spurred to action, I reached up to grasp the neckline of my shirt and ripped the garment apart before flinging the torn pieces aside.

"Edward!" Bella laughed. "Now what are you going to wear when we have to head back home?"

"Alice packed spare clothing," I rasped, and Bella's hands stilled where they'd come to rest lightly on my shoulders.

"Why would Alice know to pack spare clothes?" she asked, her eyes slowly rising to meet mine.

I shrugged. "Because she saw that I was going to tear my shirt off, I guess."

"She's watching us?" Bella whispered, clearly aghast, and I grimaced.

"Just glimpses." I placated distractedly, my eyes having come to rest on the incredible sight of Bella's cleavage, though I determinedly dragged my gaze back up to her face. "Alice promised us privacy, and she won't have kept looking once she saw what was happening." What I didn't tell Bella was that my sister had most likely shared the news with the rest of the family and would no doubt be squeeing with delight...and probably planning an elaborate renewal of vows ceremony for some time in the future.

"Oh…Okay then," Bella murmured quietly and leaned forward to press a soft kiss to my chest, effectively ending the discussion and all thoughts of Alice. Then, leaning back, she let her fingers reach out to stroke along my collar bone and then slowly find their way to my bare chest where she began to gently but thoroughly map the contours of my pectoral muscles, the hard plane of my sternum, and the ridges of muscle that banded across my stomach. Her breath came in soft, quick pants, and I moaned, my eyes fluttering closed. Bella's touch, inexperienced and yet masterful, radiated pleasure along my nerve endings and sent shudders of sensation rippling through my entire body.

"Now…where were we?" she breathed against my skin. "Oh…that's right, taking off our clothes. So whose turn was it to go next?" Looking up at me from beneath her coquettishly fluttering lashes, she pouted her lips waiting for my reply, but all I could manage was an unintelligible groan. "I guess it must be my turn, then," she responded, smiling as she leaned away from my body just far enough to undo the button and zipper of her exceedingly short denim shorts. In doing so, the backs of her fingers brushed against the by-now tented front of my pants, and we both gasped. But she didn't stop, and when the zipper had rasped…slowly…agonizingly…all the way down, she tucked her thumbs into the waistband of her shorts and shimmied them over her hips and down to her knees before raising first one leg and then the other to facilitate their complete removal. This left her kneeling in front of me, wearing nothing but a matching midnight blue, lacy bra and boy shorts.

My entire body shuddered, and I came very close to losing control.

"Bella," I breathed, reaching to pull her into my arms.

"No…wait," she murmured, her hands reaching to the waistband of my shorts. "My turn to take off something of yours."

I froze, not sure if I would survive the process. I willed my body to behave as Bella ran her fingers nervously along the top edge of my shorts, stroking my belly repeatedly, and then began to fumble with the buttons on my fly. Groaning, I rocked against her, trembling at her touch.

"Oh, to hell with it," she muttered, and ripped the shorts away with a sudden jerk, leaving me in my briefs. Sitting back, I hauled her into my lap, her legs wrapping around my waist as she came up hard against me. I'd never felt so much of Bella's soft, smooth skin beneath my hands or pressed against me before, and I couldn't get enough of touching her…caressing her…mapping her sweet curves and contours far more freely than I'd ever allowed myself.

"Oh, baby," she whimpered, her hands stroking my back and holding me tight as we rocked against one another. My hardened length ground against her heat, and our gasps of pleasure turned to moans of delight as our mouths met and melded into frenzied kisses. The thought crossed my mind that in less than a heartbeat, I could have us both naked and be inside her, sobering me enough to pull back just a little. As much as there would be time for a more _frenzied _pace in the future, I wanted our first time to be slower…gentler…and, I willed myself to an almost human pace.

"Let's lie down," I whispered against Bella's mouth. Taking her whimpering moan as assent, I lowered us both to the blanket, our bodies coming to rest on our sides with her head leaning on the arm I tucked beneath her, my other hand pressing her firmly against me.

Our lips sought and found each other's again, and we worshipped one another with kisses filled with passion…possession…and the love that overflowed our hearts.

"I love you so much, Bella," I murmured against her lips and then deepened the kiss further, allowing my tongue full access to the delicious recesses of her mouth. Bella's tongue stroked mine as her body moved against me, and then she began fumbling with the clasp on the back of her bra. Groaning, I pulled back, offering to help with my questing fingers, but Bella took a leaf out of my book and ripped the garment off before tossing it away. I would have complained, being particularly partial to the lovely scrap of lace that she'd just torn apart, but my gaze fell to her suddenly bare breasts, and speech…thought…movement…were all suddenly impossible.

Stunned by the beauty before me, I stared…and stared…until Bella giggled quietly and then reached for the hand that had frozen in mid air and slowly, tentatively brought it closer to the full, creamy mound centered by a dusky rose nipple that had galvanized my attention. Arching her body toward me, she whimpered in anticipation, and I was released from my paralysis, my hand finishing the journey unaided and my fingers coming to rest gently on the curved slope below her nipple. The fullness of her breast filled my hand perfectly, and we both waited with baited breath for the first soft stroke of my thumb across the tight bud.

Shuddering in time with Bella's gasping moans, I began a gentle exploration of the sweet bounty she'd laid bare before me. Caressing the silky soft and sensitive skin with hands and fingers that worshipped, awestruck and overwhelmed, I watched intently and in amazement as her breasts swelled beneath my touch, the nipples peaking higher…tighter…calling to be stroked and soothed and suckled.

The thought was almost my undoing, and slowly, purposefully, I lowered my head until my face was mere inches from her bare and oh…so…beautiful breasts. With a quick glance to her face, I saw her watching me, frozen in place with eyes dark and filled with the same desire that burned within me like an all-consuming flame.

"Yes," she breathed, arching toward me once again, and I returned my attention to my quest. Closing the distance, I nuzzled the pale curves of her breasts with my lips and then moved to place lingering kisses in the deep valley between. Whimpering, Bella moved restlessly beneath me as I continued to cup and squeeze her breasts with my hand and gently tweak her nipples with my fingers. The feel of the peaked buds pressing against my palm was without doubt one of the most sublime tactile pleasures of my existence. But I ached for more and sensed that Bella did also.

With anticipation curling like a fist in my belly, I kissed a trail up the curve of one of her breasts and then, with a tentative flick of my tongue, I stroked her nipple before encircling it with long, lavish licks. Unable to bear the waiting any longer, I drew the tight bud into my mouth and softly suckled, all the while caressing and squeezing her other breast so that it would not feel neglected. My wife's responsive cries were the sweetest sound imaginable and assured me that my efforts to please her were not in vain.

As I continued to tease and tug and taste her nipple with my mouth and tongue, grazing it gently with my teeth, the ache in my groin grew to an unbearable level. Ignoring my own discomfort, I obeyed Bella's unspoken request and tasted her breast one last time before withdrawing my mouth, intent on turning my attentions to the one yet to be tasted, suckled and soothed. My hips moved rhythmically against her—a movement I couldn't seem to control despite my best intentions. I didn't want to make her feel rushed or pressured, but she didn't seem to mind and angled her body so that my thigh could press between her legs. I could only hope that as she pushed back against me, the pressure relieved some of the ache that I imagined was building in her lower belly and groin…as it was in mine.

_This going slow business may well be the death of us_, I mused wryly, the sound of our moans blending together. The feel of Bella's bare limbs entwined with mine, her body moving restlessly beneath me, and her silky, smooth skin sliding like satin against my own were an assault on my senses unlike any I'd ever known. Her hands moved restlessly, stroking my back and then holding my head firmly to her breast, tangling her fingers tightly in my hair as if she were afraid I might pull away. I suppressed a chuckle and smiled against her breast. I wasn't going anywhere!

Establishing a deep, tugging motion with my mouth and tongue, I matched it with a gentle twisting and tweaking of her other nipple with my fingers, the combined approach increasing her pleasure.

"Oh…baby, yes," she moaned, her head thrashing from side to side.

For long, lingering moments, during which my body teetered on the edge of control, I continued to lavish my attentions on Bella's sweet and oh…so…sexy curves, reveling in my ability to please her and receiving so much delight in return that I almost felt guilty. Making Bella feel good was the ultimate act of self-indulgence, her cries and moans increasing my desire for her in a seemingly endless feedback loop of pleasure and passion.

Eventually, a tugging on my scalp alerted me to her need for my attention, and I reluctantly lifted my head.

"Hmmm…." I moaned almost deliriously and then, responding to the siren call in her sultry smile, I eagerly moved up Bella's body to capture her lips in a passion-drenched kiss.

Our mouths fused, and we kissed endlessly, joyously, the feel of her full, firm and wonderfully naked breasts crushed against my bare chest sheer bliss. I could no more stop the growl that began to rumble in my chest—more wild lion than purring kitten—than I could have held back the tide. In that moment it was difficult to imagine that anything could feel better than this, but then Bella captured one of my freely roaming hands and began to guide it down the curves and indents of her body until together we reached the band of her lacy underwear.

"Do you want to take them off, or shall I?" she asked, her voice a tremulous whisper, and I groaned, burying my face in the curve of her neck for a moment while I worked to regain the control that I was on the edge of losing altogether. When I had my body under a vague semblence of control, I ran my hand gently up her thigh, around the curve of her bottom and held her hip in my hand before hooking my fingers in the lacy band.,

"I'll do it," I growled, and Bella whimpered.

"Just tear them off," she gasped, and it was my turn to whimper.

"You sure?" I asked, rising up on one elbow to look down into the lovely face that reflected back to me an expression of both contentment and longing. I understood the paradox perfectly.

She nodded, and with a slight flex of my fingers, I tore through the flimsy fabric and then tossed the lacy panties aside.

And then she was completely naked.

Swallowing hard, I let my eyes roam the length of her body, starting with the glorious hair spread out like a cloud around her, to her violet-shaded eyelids and ruby red lips that glistened from the venom that coated them.

_My_ _venom_, I thought as possessiveness surged within me.

My gaze traversed the pale, flawless skin that rose and fell with the gentle lines of Bella's feminine form, lingering with a will of its own at the pouting peaks of her perfectly sized breasts, and then traveling slowly, worshipfully down the curving mounds to follow the graceful line of her ribcage and remarkably slender waist. Captivated, I paused at the indentation of her navel and considered that it, too, was due for my personal attention. But then my eyes drifted lower, accompanied by a gently caressing hand with fingers that twitched at the mere thought of the destination that awaited them and the bliss that was to be found there, for me and above all…for Bella.

My eyes shot up to meet hers, and I was not overly surprised to see the slight apprehension in her gaze. Lowering my head, my mouth met hers in a kiss of reassurance and comfort as my fingers slowly brushed through the sweet tangle of curls at the juncture of her thighs. Her arms encircled me, pulling my upper body down to hers while I gently stroked the silky, slick and highly sensitive flesh hidden beneath the curls. The tension gradually seeped out of her muscles and slowly…hesitantly…her legs moved apart, giving me access to the sweet folds of her swollen sex.

Catching my breath, not quite believing that that this was finally happening, that I was actually touching her so intimately, I sought and found the precious nub secreted in the folds of her sex. Desire shot through me, fisting tightly in my belly at the feel and knowledge of what lay beneath my finger as I gently circled the sensitive bundle of nerves. Bella froze for a second at my touch, and I broke the kiss to capture her gaze, her expression filled with wonderment. Then she moaned and lifted her hips, rotating them slightly in time with my movements.

"Oh, yes…" she whispered, her eyelids drifting shut as she continued to writhe beneath my hand. "Don't stop….please…"

"Of course, sweetheart," I murmured, and let my fingers slide up and down her sex, carefully circling and arousing her further with each slow and purposeful stroke. When I felt her wet and warm beneath my fingers, I gently entered her body with my forefinger, letting it slide slowly inside her hot, tight and incredibly silky sheath.

We both gasped, and Bella's head fell back, a long, low moan escaping her lips. Smiling, I pushed a little deeper, mesmerized by the feel of her slick, velvety flesh against my finger as I slid it inside her again…and then again...shuddering as I imagined what it would feel like when I was deep inside her.

"Oh…my…" Bella softly cried, her hips rising rhythmically as she pressed back against the stroking of my finger. Emboldened, I joined a second finger to the first and gradually increased the speed of my movements, and I was momentarily stunned by the exquisite sensation of Bella's soft, velvety internal walls clenching tightly around me.

"Aaaaah!" Her blissful cry spurred me on, and I instinctively lowered my head to once again capture the peak of her breast with my mouth, suckling and tugging in time with the fingers moving rhythmically between her thighs. Before long, I was rewarded with the sublime sensation of Bella's internal muscles clenching again and again as her body was racked with shudders, and her cries rent the air. Awed, I lifted my head and watched as the expression of stunned surprise on Bella's beautiful face transformed to one of rapture, and my own pleasure threatened to overwhelm me.

Growling with triumph, I held her close, the pulsing pleasure emanating from her core gradually subsiding while her body continued to shudder against me.

"Oh…Edward," she sighed, as I moved to lay on my back and she curled into my body, snuggling against me. A part of me wanted to take her immediately—a very big part—but I let her savor the moment. Smiling, I ran my hands adoringly up and down her spine, thrilled beyond measure that I had been able to bring her to orgasm so easily.

The thought sent a virtual avalanche of desire crashing over me, my patience and endurance expended. Unable to stifle a groan, my erection pressed demandingly against her hip and thigh. Bella froze, and then her head lifted from where it rested against my chest, her gaze meeting mine.

With a tigeress-like growl of her own, she leaned over me and reached to cup the back of my neck with one hand. Urging my head up to hers, our mouths met in a fierce, consuming tangle of tongues and lips and moans. At the same time, her other hand stroked downward over my ribs and across my belly to grasp the waistband of my briefs.

"Just rip them off," I groaned, and after a slight hesitation, Bella did exactly that and my erection sprang free…_finally!_ Glancing down, she saw my naked and fully aroused form for the first time, and her eyes widened, her mouth forming an O as she froze in place once more.

"Bella?" I queried softly when seconds passed, and she continued to stare, her expression stunned.

Swallowing hard, she didn't respond but moved the hand that had been resting on my hip toward my eagerly waiting shaft. But then she froze again, her hand mere inches from my aching, throbbing erection, and I groaned my frustration.

Her eyes shot to mine. "It's so big," she whispered, and it took everything I had not to laugh at her expression. Of _course_ she would be a little afraid, vampire or not. This was completely new to her—to us both—but _I_ wasn't the one about to have my body invaded by something that didn't look like it could possibly fit.

"It's okay, baby," I murmured with as much reassurance as I could muster. "We'll take it slow, and your body will expand. It will work, _I promise_." The tone of my last statement may have been slightly more pleading than comforting, and the worry faded from Bella's face to be replaced by a look of sweet determination.

First taking a deep breath, which had the delightful result of brushing her breasts against my chest and allowing my erection to come in brief but heady contact with her hip, she moved her hand the remaining inches and carefully grasped my hard, aching shaft in her hand.

We both gasped, and this time my head fell back as I lost vision for a second, my eyes rolling back in my head. The feel of her soft fingers clasping me and then gently stroking my length was nearly my undoing, the noise that escaped my lips part ecstatic moan, part agonized growl.

"Edward?" Bella sounded worried, and I forced my head to lift and my eyes to meet her gaze. "Am I…am I not doing it right?"

_If she did it any better, I'd be finished before we began,_ I thought wryly, relieved that if that did happen, one of the benefits of being a vampire was an almost instant recovery time.

"You're doing it perfectly," I groaned as she traced the ridges of the sculptured head before stroking all the way slowly down my shaft once again. Despite my words, I wanted to wrap my fingers around her small, delectable hand and have her move quicker…harder…but the outcome would have been assured and not the one I desired the most. I let her explore and torment my body for as long as I could manage, my erection growing impossibly larger and harder with her touch, until I could not take any more. When I stayed her hand with my own, her dark and slumberous gaze rose slowly to meet mine. Her tongue traced an irresistibly glistening path over her swollen lips, and one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows arched in query.

"I want to be inside you when I come," I rasped hoarsely, and her eyes widened, but then she nodded—albeit a little jerkily—and slowly lay back upon the blanket. With her eyes fixed to mine, and her hand wrapped around my shaft with mine overlaying it, she opened her legs to me, and for the first time, I lay my naked body in the cradle of Bella's thighs. Together we guided the head of my throbbing erection to slide against the wet, swollen folds of her sex, our moans combining at the exquisite sensation. Then she pulled her hand away to grasp my shoulders, leaving me to rub myself slowly up and down her sex.

"I want you to be inside me when it happens, too," she murmured, her eyes shining with love and longing. "For both of us to feel it…together."

She seemed uncertain, and my eyebrows shot up. I wanted to reassure her that it wouldn't be a problem. Between her being a vampire and her innate responsiveness, I could virtually guarantee that she would experience a repeat performance of the bliss that overcame her earlier. Instead I smiled, looking forward to seeing the surprise on her face—and the joy—when it happened.

With my weight resting on one elbow and the other hand guiding my shaft in a slow, stroking pattern that was having the desired effect of opening her body to me, I leant down to softly kiss her lips.

"It will be fine, sweetheart," I murmured, deepening the kiss even as I removed my hand to grasp her hip. My vampire nature wanted to take her hard, penetrate deep, and move fast to possess and claim what was mine, but I refused to give in to the urge and slowly…slowly…began to push my way inside her. Feeling the resistance of her virginity, I paused, savoring the sublime sensation of her hot, wet, and silky flesh holding me so tightly. Giving us both time to acclimatize—if that were even possible!—to the amazing feel of our bodies becoming one, I kissed her more deeply, rhythmically stroking her mouth with my tongue and mimicking the gentle rocking of my hips against hers.

"Oh, Edward…don't stop!" She broke the kiss to moan. "Please…I want all of you."

Gladly…reverently…I complied, and with one careful thrust, I pushed past the barrier that obstructed her entrance and seated myself deep within the silken recess of her body. Then I froze…for several reasons: to give Bella a chance to adjust to my penetration, because I wanted to makes sure she was okay, and because I needed time to regain a modicum of control or our first time would be over before it began.

It took a moment, but when I was once again able to think…move…breath…without risking the premature culmination of our joining together, I opened my eyes to see Bella staring up at me, an expression of awe and amazement lighting her face.

"Are you all right?" I managed to whisper hoarsely, and she nodded, a slow, stunned smile appearing on her face and curving her luscious and oh…so…kissable lips. "Did I hurt you?"

"No…not at all." She smiled radiantly. "But Edward, I can feel you…_inside _of me…_filling_ me!"

Her words triggered a not unexpected response, and my body surged against hers of its own accord, moving within her. Almost instantly, her internal muscles contracted tightly around me, and a shudder rippled through her. She cried out, her eyes rolling back in her head, and I growled my satisfaction. Then slowly…carefully…I withdrew from her hot, tight sheath until only the very tip remained inside. Hovering, I savored the moment and the look of wanton desire that I saw in her eyes when they fluttered open.

"More," she breathed, and I pushed forward and once again penetrated her body with my own, but this time I was able to go further…deeper. Raising her knees, Bella hugged my hips with her thighs, opening herself wider to me. Still resting my weight on one forearm, I lifted my body a fraction so that I could squeeze and caress one of her breasts. Withdrawing slowly again, I then pushed back inside her and began to establish the rhythm that was as old as time but as new and wonderful to Bella and I as our recently spoken vows of love and commitment.

Love, pleasure, passion, and a fierce, primal desire to possess surged through me.

"Mine!" I murmured as my body took hers over and over and over again, each time a little deeper…a little higher.

"Oh, yes…yours," Bella cried, as her body writhed beneath me, her hips rising to meet mine in counterpoint, and together we perfected the dance that joined our bodies, making the two of us…one.

I reached to kiss her; long, hot kisses where my tongue moved against hers in time with the pumping of my lower body; sweet, sexy kisses along her neck and below her ear that caused her to moan and whimper; deep, suckling kisses when I curved my body over so that I could reach her breasts, never more grateful for my vampire flexibility, stamina and strength.

The feel of Bella beneath me, around me, clenching me tight even as her arms caressed and held me close, was unlike anything I had expected. Her hands stroked and shaped the muscles in my back as I flexed over her beautiful body and thrust inside her. Of course, I knew it would be good...but _this? _This was more than I had ever imagined or thought to prepare for. Considering everything I had seen and heard, I couldn't believe that I didn't _know_ it would be like this.

One thing I discovered—to my profound relief—was that as much as I wanted to let myself go and find fulfillment in Bella's body, I was easily able to control myself and hold back. Well…maybe _easy_ was an exaggeration, but I was managing it. I was making love to my wife and bringing her pleasure…intense pleasure from the cries that filled the air and the look of love and joy that suffused her features. She had never looked so beautiful to me as she did in that moment, and I gazed down at her with adoration. Then with each deep, penetrating thrust of my body, I journeyed with her to the peak that she had reached earlier, alone.

Except something was different this time, and Bella was becoming almost frantic with need as the tension in her body grew unbearably.

"Edward," she cried out, her body writhing beneath me. Her hips and hands hugged me close as I continued to move over and inside her.

_Would she not be able to orgasm like this?_ I wondered, contemplating whether I should withdraw a little so that I could use my fingers as I had done before.

But then the pressure coiling tighter and tighter within her crested, and she gasped in a breath, her eyes widening as she stared up at me in shock. I wanted to ask her what was happening, whether she was okay or if I'd done anything wrong. But then I felt it, too…the first of multiple deep, rhythmic contractions of her body squeezing tightly around mine…far stronger…far more intense than what I'd experienced when I'd only had my fingers inside her. Like a damn bursting, or more accurately, the beginning of an earthquake that built and built and built until it reached its zenith, Bella's body found its release. Her eyes closed, she arched beneath me, and then she screamed a sound of pure and unadulterated rapture that was like nothing I had ever heard—or heard _of—_before.

"_Edward!"_ she cried, and I held her tight as her core pulsated rhythmically around me, squeezing me so fiercely that the pleasure I felt bordered on pain.

"It's okay, sweetheart," I reassured her as she rode wave after wave of ecstasy, taking me along with her for the literal ride of my life. I could have let go at any instant, having reached and held onto my own peak for far longer than I would have thought possible. But I waited…and waited…continuing to thrust deep inside her as her legs wrapped tight around my thighs, and she urged me to keep going. I wanted Bella to experience everything that her body would allow—complete and utter gratification—but I never expected it to last so long. Minutes passed, and still she was lost in a world of such passionate bliss that all I could do was look on in wonder at the woman I loved with all my being, my throat tightening as my emotions threatened to overwhelm me.

"My Bella," I whispered, awed, and her eyes fluttered open.

"Come with me," she moaned, a siren song of sensuality…and I could do nothing but obey.

Every single muscle in my body froze in anticipation, and then a burst of pure pleasure raced down my spine and exploded in my groin with the intensity of a lightning bolt. A shudder ran through me, and then I was thrusting harder…faster…deeper as I found my release pumping inside the perfection of Bella's body.

My roar of satisfaction…of bliss…of possession…shook the trees like thunder as my climax tore through me in wave after violent wave of such intense rapture that I wasn't sure I would be able to stand it. There was nothing to measure it against. Not drinking the blood of animals, even that of a mountain lion. Not drinking the blood of a human, though I remembered well the bliss that accompanied that particular perversion. Not even drinking the blood of my singer—_Bella's_ blood—could compare with the ecstasy that overwhelmed every single one of my senses and transported me to a place and time I had never visited before. And the joy of it, the absolute and sheer delight, was that I was not alone. Bella and I were experiencing this together.

I had no idea how much time passed, but eventually, I came to my senses and the feel of Bella running her fingers soothingly through my hair and trailing patterns up and down my spine. Not for the first time, I guiltily recognized how grateful I was that she was a vampire as well as my mate. The thought had crossed my mind more than once that if Bella hadn't been my singer, I could have found myself in the impossible position of falling in love with a human, with no way forward, and no way to be together that my conscience would have allowed. I did not deserve the current situation, but oh…I appreciated it more than words could ever express.

"Edward?" Bella murmured, and I slowly raised my head to meet her peaceful yet clearly stunned expression. "Are you okay?" she asked, and I couldn't contain the bark of laughter that burst from my lips.

"I can safely say that 'okay' is a massive understatement for how I'm feeling at the moment," I responded dryly, and she chuckled in response. Our bodies were still connected, with my hardened length buried deep inside her, and the movement triggered ripples of pleasure to shudder through us like the aftershocks from a major quake.

Bella's eyes widened.

"How can you still be…I mean after that...surely?" she murmured incoherently, but I easily caught her meaning, and I smirked.

"Vampire," I replied with a casual shrug of one shoulder, and it was Bella's turn to laugh, but then her expression turned serious.

"Edward, I had no idea it would be like that. Why didn't you warn me?"

"Because I didn't know," I murmured, my voice filled with awe.

"How could you _not _know?" she demanded softly. "With everything you've seen and heard and _over_heard."

I smiled and shrugged again. "Bella, sweetheart, I have _never _heard of anything like that before. I had no idea it would be that wonderful."

"Wonderful? It was more than wonderful," she cried indignantly. "If I'd known it was going to be like that there is no way I would have waited this long!"

Laughing, I hugged her close, peppering her shoulder and the curve of her neck with sweet, adoring kisses. "We only waited three weeks, sweetheart." I reminded her.

"It felt like a hell of lot longer than a few weeks to me," she muttered petulantly, and I kissed her pouting lips.

"Are you sure you're all right?" I asked when I could find the will to pull away.

"Perfectly fine," she purred, wriggling a little beneath me as if she were testing out her muscles to see if any were sore…which, of course, they wouldn't be. Groaning at the feel of her moving beneath me, I twitched inside her, reminding her of our still interconnected state of being, and her eyes widened once more. I went to move, thinking I should gently ease out of her and give her time to recover. It was getting late—we'd made love for _that_ long—and we'd have to think about heading back soon. But Bella was having none of it, and she gripped me tightly, preventing my withdrawal.

"Are _you_ all right?" she asked, and I studied her quizzically.

"Of course," I murmured, and before I could blink, she had flipped us over in a lightning-quick movement so that I was laying flat on my back, and she was sitting with her knees astride my hips, her hair floating around us like a cloud. Her bare breasts swayed slightly before me, and her hands resting lightly on my chest as she held me in place. I twitched inside her again, and she squirmed a little, pulling me deeper into the still incredibly tight recess of her body. A smile unlike any I'd seen on her face before curved her lips in an expression of feminine triumph.

"Bella?" I rasped, hoarsely. "What are you doing?"

"Not just me," she murmured, her smile slowly fading as her eyes darkened and gleamed with renewed desire. "_We're_ doing that again!"

_~OB~_

**_FINALLY! _**

**_I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it. ;) I'd love to hear what you thought, so please leave a review. _**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_PS: I'm off on a much needed holiday for ten days to soak up some sunshine, snorkel with the tropical fish and turtles, and generally relax and recharge my rather flat batteries. I've promised my lovely and ridiculously understanding hubby some personal attention, so I'll be stretching things out a little and updating Once Bitten again in two weeks instead of one – just in time for Christmas. :D_**


	32. Discovery

**_Thanks to Stephenie Meyer for the Twiverse…and for letting us lose ourselves in the magic. No copyright infringement intended._**

**_Thanks so much to my lovely betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, for their wonderful and ongoing support, and to my prereaders, Content1 and Hotwardfangirl. Not sure what you'll think of this one Caz…I tried not to let it get 'too' gory._**

**_To all my terrific and oh…so faithful reviewers, I am so glad you enjoyed my 'finally' chapter. 'Perfect' was the name I gave it after you guys inspired me with your reviews to our lovely couple's unique and private little wedding in the meadow. Sorry I haven't replied to every review from last chapter. I'm on holiday (and having a glorious time) so I've had to let a few things slide. _**

**_Special thanks to WalkingWithGiants for giving Once Bitten its 1500th review. Woohoo!_**

**_Updated: Wednesday December 21st 2011  
>Words: 3705<em>**

**_I'm posting this chapter a few days early as a way of saying 'Merry Christmas' to Once Bitten's awesome readers and reviewers, and because I'll be travelling home on the 23rd. _**

Chapter 32

Discovery

BPOV

The vampire instincts and desires that I'd been doing my best to suppress or limit in one form or another for the past few weeks refused to be contained any longer. While the human part of me that I held onto so tenaciously looked on a little awed, she didn't complain or offer up any resistance when I used my incredible strength to flip Edward onto his back and pin him to the ground with my body. Not that he resisted either.

"We're doing that again," I growled, and his eyes darkened, his body arching beneath me…not to try and throw me off, but to seat himself even more deeply inside. The feeling of our being joined together—of being connected so intimately—was indescribable. I would need an entirely new vocabulary to even come close to expressing the overwhelming bliss I'd experienced making love to Edward for the very first time.

Sitting on top with him inside me, filling me, my hands gently caressed his silky, smooth skin where I rested my hands on his taut, masculine belly. Looking down on his joy-filled face, the pleasure that _I _gave him clearly evident in his features and the intensity of his rapturous gaze, the love I felt in my heart threatened to overwhelm me.

_My beautiful boy_, I thought and then corrected myself. Edward wasn't a boy, no matter that physically he would always be perfectly preserved at seventeen. He was a man in every way: protective, passionate, powerful…_my _man!

"Bella," he breathed, gazing up at me adoringly. Reaching his hands to run them lovingly up my thighs, he took them on a torturous path of pleasure across my stomach until they came to rest gently cupping my breasts. Moaning, I pressed forward into his hands, delighting in the feel of his fingers squeezing and caressing me so intimately and the freedom we finally had to enjoy one another fully.

"I love you," I whispered, slowly raising myself up on my knees until only his very tip remained inside before I carefully lowered myself down upon his long, hard length. Edward groaned and then his head fell back, his eyes fluttering closed. Smiling, I reveled in the position and the newfound power I wielded, squirming a little where I sat and drawing him even deeper. We both shuddered at the exquisite sensation, and then I went to move again, but he stilled me, shifting his hands to my hips.

"It's getting late, sweetheart," he murmured, his expression remorseful as he gestured with his head to the twilight closing in around us.

"Well it's a good thing we're both vampires then," I murmured huskily, pleased by the incredibly sultry tone of my voice. Edward's frown betrayed his confusion, so I enlightened him. "Because vampires are…_fast_."

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or how it would feel, but I proceeded to show him exactly what I meant, moving up and down his length at ever increasing speed. Gasping, I decided that while slow and gentle had been good…very…very…good, hard and fast was equally wonderful in its way.

Edward's groans joined with my soft cries as I rode him, reassuring me that I was bringing him pleasure just as he had done for me. Then his hands began to move, and they were everywhere at once, stroking and arousing…at my breasts…cupping and squeezing my bottom…gripping my thighs and urging my hips to move even faster. His eyes hooded with desire as he gazed up at me, his expression both adoring and aroused. I knew exactly how he felt, and it was _my _turn to purr, the rumble in my chest vibrating through our bodies, heightening the pleasure of his repeated penetrations and the feel of his hips moving in counterpoint to mine. Swamped by sweet, torturous sensation, my body arched as I threw my head back and began to lose myself in the moment.

"Oh, yes…baby…yes," Edward moaned, his fingers finding and stroking the sensitive nub at the juncture between my thighs while I continued to raise and lower myself on his now throbbing shaft. Whimpering, I savored the combined sensations of his fingers caressing me in sweet, swirling motion and the thrust of his steel hard length moving inside. In no time, I was there again, at that special place that I'd heard about but never imagined would feel like this. Delight…bliss…joy…the words and phrases didn't come close to doing the feelings that coursed through my body justice. Shaking, my body pulsing in time with the pleasure that radiated out from my core, I soared heavenward, feeling as if I might fly apart so intense was the ecstasy that consumed me. But, of course, I didn't fall, as Edward was there to catch me.

In a lightning quick movement, he changed our positions so that he was kneeling with me straddling his waist, my knees hugging his thighs. My hands gripped his shoulders as he guided my hips, cupping my bottom while he continued to pump inside me.

"Oh, Bella…I love you so much," he murmured against my ear even as my orgasm rolled on and on and on, rising and falling like waves on the ocean. I tried to respond to his words, but the only sound I could make was an incoherent groan. Gradually the sensations began to ebb, but just when I thought it might be over and that my body was beginning to calm a little, Edward angled me to rest my back against his hands. Then, lowering his head to capture one of my breasts, he drew the nipple deep inside his mouth, swirling his tongue around and around the sensitive nub and then suckling…hard.

I screamed.

The exquisite sensation was so incredibly intense it reminded me of when I'd been trapped in the flames, being transformed into a vampire. Of course, those sensations had been overwhelming pain whereas this was pure, unadulterated pleasure. But just as Edward had been my comfort in the torment, he was my anchor keeping me from flying away altogether and becoming lost in this world of bliss. Grounding me, he held me to him as he caressed my body with his hands and mouth while he thrust deep inside me. As I continued to contract around him, he reached his peak, joining me, and—almost impossibly—my bliss increased, doubling and tripling as I felt the pleasure consume him. Encircling him in my arms, I held him close, loving him, caressing him, adoring him. Shuddering and groaning, he buried his face in the curve of my neck as he continued to pulse inside me. Then throwing his head back, he roared his satisfaction to the darkening sky.

Floating slowly back to earth on a cloud of euphoria took us a while. But we weren't in any hurry despite the distant drums that seemed to be marking the passage of time with their gradually increasing beat. Curious, I raised my head, capturing Edward's sleepy and oh so contented gaze.

"Baby?" I murmured, and he gave his head a shake before cupping my cheek with his hand and brushing a soft kiss to my lips.

Then he was gone, and I found myself sprawled alone on the now crumpled and torn picnic blanket.

"Edward?" I called, blinking and trying to orient myself. Looking around, I caught a glimpse of him on the edge of the meadow and then he was kneeling before me, the backpack at his side, frantically trying to pull a T-shirt over my head. The sleeve tore off in his haste, and I tugged it from him.

"Let me do it," I said, puzzled and beginning to worry. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry. We were supposed to be gone by now," he muttered, unnerving me further as he pulled more clothes from the bag and tried to drag a pair of khaki shorts over my bare legs.

"I've got it!" I cried, dressing quickly while I watched Edward pull on a pair of shorts. He didn't bother with underwear—for either of us—and the remnants of my bliss disappeared under an onslaught of fear and uncertainty.

All the while the drums grew louder.

"What is that sound?" I demanded, and Edward grabbed me by the shoulders, looking me straight in the eye.

"It's the wolves, Bella. They've found us," he told me, his voice shaking. In that instant, my mind converted the sound I'd been hearing from drums to heartbeats, as I finally recognized it for what it was.

"How many?" I asked, stunned at the strength of their pounding hearts. They didn't sound like any of the animals I'd hunted so far.

"Five…they're a scouting party hunting nomads," he explained, and I looked toward the encroaching noise, curious to finally see what they looked like and wondering if Jake was among them. It would be pretty amazing to see my best friend as a wolf…probably as amazing as it would be for him to discover that I was a vampire.

"Is Jacob with them?" I asked, excitement at the possibility lighting up my face. "I'm kind of relieved. It'll be better to have the truth out in the open."

_~OB~_

EPOV

I stared at her, aghast. She wasn't taking this seriously, but then she didn't know she had to…because I hadn't told her the truth.

"Bella, listen to me. It's not better…it's dangerous," I growled urgently, shaking her shoulders. "You have to run…as fast as you can. Do you understand me? You have to get away."

"What?" she questioned, clearly perplexed. "But why? We're not nomads. I know you're worried they'll be upset about me, but we can just explain that I'm okay, and that I forgive you. They'll understand."

"They _won't _understand. I lied to you. I'm sorry, but we don't have time for this now…you have to run." The utter anguish in my tone finally penetrated, and Bella stared at me in shock.

"What do you mean, you lied to me?" she demanded when I needed her to obey without question.

Groaning, I tugged my hands through my hair before recapturing her shoulders. The wolves would be upon us at any moment. "Bella, you're a newborn, the biggest threat there is to humans…to the tribe and the town. Once they realize what you are, they'll want to _destroy_ you! I haven't taught you how to defend yourself against them, so you need to run. Down the mountain." I pointed. "Get Carlisle…Jasper… Alice will see and they'll come to meet you."

"No! I'm not leaving you! Besides, they're my friends. They wouldn't hurt me," she argued, clutching at my bare chest, as I hadn't wasted time pulling on a shirt for myself.

"They won't have a choice, Bella. They're under orders from Sam, the Alpha…Jacob included. Once they see that you're a newborn, you won't be 'you' anymore, you'll be the enemy," I insisted. "I can read their minds, preempt their movements. I'll be okay…you don't have to worry about me. But if I'm distracted worrying about you, then we will _both_ be in danger." I hated lying to her this way, and wondered if she would ever forgive me. I would not survive without her, and a part of me didn't know if I was doing the right thing—if she'd be able to go on without me. Despite what I'd said, the odds of my surviving in a fight with five wolves were slim, even with my talent.

"What about my shield?" she suggested, her face becoming animated. It had activated when her fear had kicked in, surrounding us, but I shook my head, unwilling to risk her.

"It's too unpredictable, Bella, and not strong enough to do more than irritate the wolves. The best way you can help me is to run and get the others while I hold them off. But you have to go now," I pleaded, imploring her with my gaze. "Please, I love you. Trust me on this, Bella, please."

Hesitating for just a second more, she nodded and kissed me hard, then turned to run in the direction I'd pointed, just as the wolves burst into the clearing on the other side. Sighing with relief, I thanked God that I was between the wolves and Bella and should be able to hold them off long enough for her to escape.

Jacob, a huge, red-brown wolf, was leading the scouting party. He'd only just returned from running alone in the north where he'd gone to try to come to terms with his grief, but Sam had put him straight to work on his return, patrolling for the nomads that continued to cause problems in the area. Picking up Bella's and my scent on the far side of the mountain, he'd recognized my oil-tweaked odor from his visit to the house. He'd been relatively unconcerned…Jasper's disguise working perfectly. It was Bella's scent that had drawn his attention. Even though she'd stopped using the strawberry scented shampoo to be on the safe side, there was something about her vampire scent that puzzled Jacob enough to want to investigate, his vulpine olfactory senses picking up an odd trace of familiarity.

Approaching slowly…warily—the only reason Bella and I'd had time to dress and for her to escape—Jacob knew Sam wouldn't approve of his provoking a fight with any of the Cullens' 'guests,' as he thought us to be. But then he and the others had heardour cries of pleasure and guessed that we were making love—I growled low in my chest, _hating_ them for that—and their curiosity had emboldened them. I'd been so lost in the afterglow of our lovemaking that I'd not even registered their approach, their puerile thoughts finally alerting me to their presence.

They'd planned to spy on us from the edge of the forest, remaining downwind, not realizing that I could hear their thoughts or how distinctive their heartbeats sounded to our vampire ears. But when they'd reached the edge of the clearing, Jacob recognized me—and Bella's fleeing form—and his thoughts turned to utter turmoil.

_Bella! _His mind screamed, the agonizing howl that tore from his throat echoed quickly by the others as his revelation spread to their thoughts through the group mind.

_Bella's alive?_

_Not alive…undead! _

_Bella's a vampire?_

_A newborn! You know what Sam says about new vampires!_

_We have to get her…destroy her before she can reach the town._

_No! _Jacob roared, and the others hesitated. _Nobody touches Bella! Get the bloodsucking demon who did this to her. This is all _his _fault! Get him now!_

Instantly on the defensive, I crouched low, a feral growl rumbling in my chest.

_You don't need all of us to take him down, _the girl wolf, Leah, contradicted Jacob's order. _I'm going after Bella!_

She broke from the pack, a slightly smaller but still deadly-looking grey wolf, and I raced to intercept her, feinting right and left in time with her weaving movements. Confused, she hesitated, and I pounced, grabbing her around the neck and sending her hurtling back to collide with the others and tumble three of them across the ground.

_What the—? How'd he know where I was going to move?_

Leah's startled query was repeated in the thoughts of the others.

_He's the mind reader, _Jacob discerned, and once again I was impressed by his perceptiveness, though I hadn't realized the pack was aware of my talent.

_Seth, you track Bella. Leah, I'll need you with us to take him down…the bastard's slippery._

The smallest wolf separated himself from the pack, his thoughts a bewildered mess of memories and confusion. He was picturing Bella—his babysitter_—_from when they were younger, playing with him, caring for him. In one scene they were both laughing as she chased him across a field, eventually catching him only to tickle him mercilessly. I would have smiled at the loving, carefree girl he recalled, but there was no time to savor the delightful images.

Taking a calculated risk, I let him pass. I'd already given Bella a good head start, and the boy's thoughts gave me hope that even if he caught up with her, which was unlikely, he wouldn't attack.

_Keep your distance! _Jacob called after Seth as he and the others slowly circled around me. _And whatever you do, don't hurt her!_

Seth's mental snort sounded distinctly amongst the cacophony of the group mind.

_It's _Bella! _Of course I'm not going to hurt her,_ he grumbled, his concentration focused on following her distinctive vampire scent.

I blew out a breath, relieved that I'd made the right call. The boy had a kind heart. It wasn't his fault he'd been transformed into a monster by his genes, and I briefly hoped that Jasper would let him live.

That slight distraction on my part was all it took, and the remaining pack members pounced, a flurry of snarling, sharper-than-razors teeth and raking claws. Their attack was coordinated and brutal, taking all my skill and strength to fend them off. Keeping track of four sets of thoughts at the speed they moved challenged my ability, and while I gave as good as I got, striking blow after blow, my fears had been well-founded. As supernaturally sharp wolf teeth connected with my vampire flesh, mostly just grazing it but occasionally biting deep, I knew that I would not survive this fight intact. It was only a matter of time before they got the upper hand and tore me apart. My only hope was that my family would arrive before the wolves had time to burn my body. As long as I hadn't been reduced to ash, Carlisle could reassemble me—if he could find enough pieces—though what state I'd be in was another matter.

Acknowledging the inevitability of my demise, whether temporary or permanent, did not mean I planned on giving in without one hell of a fight. The longer I kept my attackers occupied, the more time Bella had to reach the others…and safety. But the bites from four sets of ferociously snapping jaws were taking their toll, the pain far worse than I had expected. Stifling my groans, I fought tenaciously—the life of my mate was at stake—but I held back from delivering any killing blows.

While a part of me wanted to tear the monsters who threatened Bella and my future apart, I could not deny that their existence was a direct result of the threat _my _kind posed to humanity. They were all just teenagers, Jacob, the group's leader, barely sixteen years of age and Seth much younger, their youth highjacked by forces outside their control. Not that their relatively tender years made them any less vicious opponents. They took their job seriously, Jacob in particular.

He'd seen our clothes, in particular Bella's torn underwear, scattered near the picnic blanket, and his fury at the undeniable proof of what we'd been doing was unreasoning and all-consuming. A part of him actually hoped that Bella had not been a willing participant…anything to absolve her of guilt and complicity. He couldn't believe that she would willingly give herself to a _monster_ like me, especially not the demon who'd attacked her in the first place. Rage and pain fueled his determination to tear me limb from limb.

_He may just get his wish_, I thought, knowing that my time was quickly running out. I was weakening…my legs no longer working properly and my left hand a mangled mess from using it defensively while I struck blows with my right. The fight which had lasted mere minutes would be over soon, and I would not be the victor…but I had achieved my aim. Delaying the inevitable, I ducked and weaved, dragging out the fight for as long as I could and confusing them with the smile that appeared on my face. Bella was safe, and that was all that mattered.

Or she would have been, if she'd done as I'd asked and run for help…

Groaning, disbelief and despair fighting for supremacy, I saw through the pack mind her altercation with the young wolf, Seth. She was trying to get back to me, the boy/wolf unwittingly aiding my cause and trying to keep her away, afraid that the others would hurt her. But Bella would not be dissuaded, and she made a move that would give her the upper hand.

Seth's pain was registered by his pack mates, and the pictures in the collective wolf mind jumbled together. Distracted by fear for her little brother, I was able to deliver a debilitating blow to Leah, Seth's sister, that sent her flying across the field to lie stunned and unmoving. Then Seth's thoughts and the images of Bella disappeared.

_Please, let her run down the mountain and not come back for me_, I silently pleaded. But it wasn't to be, the sound of her racing toward us at a frantic pace through the trees erasing all hope. Using all my strength, I broke free from my remaining opponents, sending them tumbling backward across the grass in time to see Bella appear at the edge of our meadow.

"Edward…Noooo!" she screamed, seeing the state I was in, her anguished cry breaking my heart.

"Bella, stay back," I begged as Quil and Embry attacked me from behind, dragging me to the ground. With the last of my strength and concentration, I held off their snapping jaws and watched Jacob turn to face Bella as she ignored me—of course—and raced toward us. Dreading what I would see but unable to look away, I kept my eyes trained on the beautiful girl that I had given my life to protect…in vain.

_Oh, Bella…my love...my life…_

As if in slow motion, I watched her leap high over her growling, furious friend. His wolf instincts told him to attack the red-eyed newborn, as did the Alpha's order that he was determinedly suppressing. But she was his best friend, and he loved her…in his way.

But not like I did.

"Bella!" I cried desolately as she dove straight into the pack of ravening wolves that were hell-bent on our destruction, the blessed coolness of her touch the last thing I felt before the world turned to black.

_~OB~_

**_Ummm…Merry Christmas? Not sure what you think of that for a present. I'd love to hear from you and promise to reply to reviews for this chapter. I may even try to get Ch 33 up early in celebration of the holiday season…and because you're all probably dying to know what happens next!_**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_PS: If you're looking for a nice little holiday read, with a very cute and sexy Edward who has a totally hot inner monologue, check out Twilover76's story The Twelve Days of Christmas. She's posting a chapter a day until Christmas and it's a real treat!  
><em>****_fanfiction (dot) net/s/7635824/7/_**


	33. Explosion

**_Thanks, as always, to Stephenie Meyer for sharing her creation. No copyright infringement intended._**

**_Well…my little cliffhanger last chapter caused quite a stir. Sorry! To make it up to you, here's the next chapter nice and early. I hope you all enjoy my little Christmas gift, though be prepared…we're not quite done with the angst. ;)_**

**_Thanks so much to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, for beta'ing this chapter and returning it to me in such a short space of time. XOXOX_**

**_PS: Once Bitten has been nominated for a Shimmer Award. Yay! I'll let you know when voting opens in case you want to check out the competition and cast me a vote. :)_**

**_Updated: Friday, December 23rd 2011 – Merry Christmas everyone!  
>Words: 4630<em>**

Chapter 33

Explosion

BPOV

I had no intention of leaving Edward to fight _five _wolves alone, but he seemed convinced that the best thing I could do to help him was to run and get his family. So that's what I would do—sort of—and then get back to him as quickly as I could.

"Alice, you'd better be watching or listening or whatever it is you do with that gift of yours," I muttered, running as fast as I could down the mountain in the direction Edward had pointed.

I'd need to be some distance away from the wolves to be sure their presence wouldn't interfere with her receiving the message I planned on sending, but how far I wasn't sure.

When the pain in my chest that I felt whenever Edward and I were apart grew to an unbearable level, I halted. It would have to be far enough.

"Alice!" I shouted. "The wolves have found us…we stayed too long in the meadow. Please…come help us. Bring everyone. Please…come now!"

Hoping that I'd done enough, I turned to run back to Edward, but I'd only covered a fairly short distance when I came face to face with a huge grey wolf. I skidded to a halt, stunned by the size of the monster that blocked the path. It was the size of a horse!

"What the? No!" I shouted and spun back to race further down the mountain. In my panic, I'd not registered that the creature was so close…though the truly awful smell should have alerted me. Alice wouldn't have received the message I'd sent, and I'd have to outrun it and try again before heading back to help my mate.

"Oh, God…please let him be okay," I prayed, desperately hoping that Edward was telling me the truth when he said he'd have no trouble holding off the wolves. He could read their minds, so he'd know which way they would move before they attacked, and he was incredibly fast, even for a vampire. I'd seen him play-fight with his brothers, and they never stood a chance against his skill and ability. But still, Emmett's words from the first time I'd been told about the wolves played over in my thoughts.

"They'll tear you apart if enough of them find you alone," he'd said, pounding his fist into his palm.

"Edward," I gasped, grinding to a halt. What if he'd lied? What if he _couldn't_ fight off the wolves alone and had just said that to make me leave?

Spinning around, I saw the grey wolf right behind me. Outrunning him wasn't an option, and it looked like I'd have to fight him to get back to Edward. Unless…

"Jacob?" I asked, hoping against hope that the terrifying looking creature blocking my way was actually my best friend. But the huge wolf shook his head from side to side.

"I don't want to hurt you, whoever you are, but you have to let me pass," I insisted, edging to the side.

Bounding effortlessly, he blocked the path, growling at me in a way that sent shivers up my spine.

"Please…you have to let me get to Edward," I implored. "I know he shouldn't have bitten me, and it sucks that I got turned into a vampire. But I'm okay…really. I drink animal blood like the rest of the Cullens. My eyes are red because I'm a newborn. I haven't hurt any people, and I never will…I promise."

The wolf cocked his head to the side as if he were listening intently, and I could only hope he believed me. But when I tried to pass, he continued to block the way. Growling, his lips curled back to reveal vicious looking teeth—lots of them—but I didn't have time to be afraid. Edward was under attack, and the more I thought about it, the more worried I became that his words had been a trick to get me to leave.

Sending Alice a message wasn't necessary. We should have been safely home by now, and they'd be worried without me having to alert them. I could only imagine they weren't here already because Alice was trying to give us the privacy we'd requested. But the sky was almost completely dark, and they wouldn't risk us being out much longer.

Not that I could wait for their backup. Edward needed me…now.

"I'm sorry," I offered to the wolf pacing and blocking my way. "I don't want to hurt you, but you're leaving me no choice."

For all I knew, it was laughing at my threat, but I had to try. Relying on a combination of brute strength and my shield, which had activated again but was flickering all over the place in my panic and distress, I ran straight at the creature, intent on forcing it out of the way.

It yelped, probably shocked by my shield, but it managed to capture me around the ankle, its huge teeth closing surprisingly gently around my bare skin. To my relief it didn't try to tear off my foot, but it held me fast.

"Let go!" I shouted, struggling in earnest, my shield zapping it again. The wolf whimpered but held tight, its teeth cutting painfully into my ankle though I got the impression he was trying _not _to hurt me.

I couldn't afford the same luxury, not if I was going to get to Edward in time to help him.

Remembering something I'd overheard Jasper say about fighting newborns, I reached to grab the huge beast around the middle.

"Never let a newborn get his arms around you," Jazz had told Em in a discussion on fighting tactics. "They'll crush you easily."

I was strong…stronger even than supernatural, vampire-killing, shape-shifting wolves.

"I'm sorry!" I cried, not wanting to hurt the wolf but not knowing what else to do. Then I squeezed the huge creature and felt bones give way beneath the hot, wet-dog-smelling fur.

It screamed, a terrible sound, and I instantly let go, leaving it to collapse to the ground. Sick to my stomach at what I'd done, I took off up the mountain and didn't look back. Hoping I hadn't accidentally killed whoever it was, I promised myself I'd come back and check on him later, but for now, I had to get to Edward.

A terrible sense of foreboding drove me onward, and I ran faster than I ever had before, even faster than when Edward had been chasing me through the trees. I couldn't believe that it was just this morning that we'd been playing together in the forest or that only a matter of minutes earlier, we'd been making such sweet and passionate love.

"Oh please…please…let him be all right," I begged, leaping huge boulders and fallen logs like they were pebbles on a path.

It didn't take me long to get back to Edward, but the sight that met my eyes when I burst through the trees into the meadow shocked me to a standstill.

Edward was injured…badly. The lower half of his left leg was missing a huge piece, and his hands and arms were covered in bite marks…terrible bite marks.

"Edward….no!" I screamed just as the two huge creatures that had been circling him took him down to the ground. Holding their jaws back with his poor, mangled hands, he watched as I ran toward him. Pleading for me to stay back, his eyes were filled with love and pain. But I had to get to him, and I didn't hesitate.

A huge red wolf blocked my way, growling and snarling, but thankfully it didn't try to stop me. Leaping right over the top of it, I crashed into the two wolves that were trying to tear into Edward with their teeth, sending them flying. Then my hand closed around Edward's right ankle.

I'd been holding the shield in check until I reached him. _At least I had that much control over the stupid thing_, I thought bitterly. But I'd felt it building while I'd been running full-pelt through the forest.

Like the pregnant power of an electrical storm just before it breaks, the force of my shield had reached overload, and I couldn't hold it back any longer. Once I knew Edward was safe from being zapped, I let it go. The energy flowed through me: fear, pain, and rage all rolled into one as I unwittingly released hell.

The sound was unexpected, a sonic boom of sheer, overwhelming noise accompanied by a huge blast that sent the world racing outward on a rush of ice-cold air and pure energy.

Diving to cover Edward's body with my own, I did my best to protect him against the backlash as wind, dust, leaves and branches swirled crazily around us. Long seconds passed—seconds that in the eye of the hurricane felt like days—before the world went still and very…very…silent.

"Edward?" I queried, gingerly climbing off his body. "Oh, Edward," I whispered hoarsely.

My beautiful, beautiful man was all beaten and torn. There were bite wounds all over his chest and shoulders, but the worst damage was to his hands, forearms and lower legs. To my relief, the shallower bite wounds healed before my eyes, the scars fading and then disappearing altogether. But others—the deeper ones or the places where there were pieces of him…_missing_—looked angry and seemed to be festering somehow. I didn't think that was supposed to happen with the venom.

"Edward, please," I cried, gently shaking his shoulder, the heat coming off his skin abnormal. I'd never seen him asleep and didn't know what to think of his continuing stillness. "Open your eyes, sweetheart…please."

With a sudden gasp, he sat up, his eyes snapping open. A growl burst from his lips and he sprang to a crouch despite the damage to his legs, one arm reaching to hold me back, defending me even in his wounded state. I hugged him from behind, dry sobs of relief convulsing in my chest.

"Oh, Edward…baby…I thought I was too late, that I'd lost you."

Turning in my arms, he pulled me close. "Bella…" he breathed, burrowing his face into the curve of my neck, his warm lips finding my skin.

We hugged each other tightly, and then he held me away from him, looking me over, his eyes darting everywhere.

"Are you all right? Did they get you anywhere? Are you hurt?"

"No…I'm fine. It's you we have to worry about. Edward…your leg…your hands…"

Lifting his left hand in front of his face, he hissed when he saw that there were fingers missing. Then he glanced around, and my eyes followed his.

Gasping in surprise, I could hardly believe my eyes.

The meadow was…gone. The grass and flowers were completely flattened with whole swathes of ground laid bare right down to the dirt and rock. All along the tree line were broken bushes, tumbled branches, and uprooted trees—only the smaller ones…but still.

"Oh…my…" I murmured, dazed.

"_You_ did that?" Edward asked, his voice sounding awed.

"I wasn't trying to," I defended weakly. "It just…happened. At least it made the wolves run away."

"No…they're still out there. I can hear their thoughts, though they're not making much sense and they're…_fading_?" He sounded puzzled, and I turned to him in alarm.

"I can't hear their heartbeats!" I cried.

"Oh, hell," Edward swore softly. "They're unconscious…their hearts aren't beating and they've stopped breathing."

"What?" Looking urgently around, I couldn't see any wolves, but after a second glance, I saw glimpses of brown skin and dark hair visible amongst the debris. They must have reverted to human form when they were knocked out.

"Edward, they're dying! We have to help them…or is it too late?" I finished on a whimper.

Groaning, Edward dragged himself to his feet. "It's not too late, but we'll have to hurry. Do you know CPR?" he asked, but I hesitated to nod.

"If we…if we help them, will they try to attack you again?" I felt ashamed to ask, but I couldn't bear to see him hurt any more, incredibly worried as I was about the injuries he'd already sustained.

Edward turned to me and gathered me against him. "Don't worry about me, sweetheart. The family will be here soon to help us. Besides…I don't think your friends will be in any state to phase back into wolves straight away. But we've got to hurry or it _will_ be too late to save them."

With my arm around his waist, Edward limped beside me over to where Jacob lay, sprawled naked on the ground at the edge of the meadow.

"Oh!" I startled, quickly looking away while Edward bent to retrieve what appeared to be a pair of shorts that were tied to Jake's calf. Quickly draping them to hide his nudity, Edward then instructed me in what to do to save my best friend's life.

"You help him, and I'll go to the next one," he offered and I nodded jerkily, quietly repeating what he'd said.

"Baby puffs or you'll blow out his lungs, tiny presses or you'll crush his chest."

Focusing on what I needed to do helped me to keep the abject panic from overwhelming me. I'd done a first aid course with Renee not long before leaving Phoenix after she'd decided—on one of her whims—that it was suddenly vital we both knew how to save a life in an emergency. Right now, I wished I could thank her for the foresight, though I doubted she'd had this particular scenario in mind.

_D...R…A…B...C._

Danger…Well...that would be me, as the wolves were no longer posing a threat.

Response…Edward said he could still hear their thoughts, so that was something, but they were still very much unconscious.

_Oh, Jake…what are you thinking? What were you thinking?_ I despaired.

Airways…I carefully tilted his head back, smoothing the dark hair that had grown a little longer since I'd seen him last back from his forehead, while quickly checking that his airway was clear. His skin was incredibly hot beneath my hand, and I could only imagine how cold I must feel to him.

Breathing…Gently pinching his nose, I puffed three baby breaths into his mouth and watched his chest rise and fall. He smelled…_strange. _Not quite as bad as he did as a wolf, but very different from how I remembered from when we were both human…or rather, when _I_ was still human.

Circulation…With deliberate care, I compressed his sternum to artificially beat his heart fifteen times—fast but not vampire fast—then two more breaths, before repeating the cycle.

"Edward?" I called out, midway through the third cycle. "Are you all right? Who else is here? I don't think this is working!" I couldn't keep the panic out of my voice.

"Keep going, Bella. They're alive…I can still hear their thoughts. Their wolf genes make them stronger...more resilient...than humans," he reassured me. "I'm working on Quil. The other two are Embry and Leah."

Stunned, I froze for a second, before continuing to work on Jake, desperate to bring him back. Leah? Quil? Embry? They were my friends!

"Jake…come on. Wake up, damn it!" I cried. Embry and Leah were still lying unconscious somewhere…not breathing, but Edward and I couldn't be in two places at once.

_How long would it take for Jake to revive, and where the hell was Edward's family?_

It was almost as if my anguished thought was a catalyst, for in the next moment, Jake's chest heaved and he coughed, spluttering as he rolled to his side, gasping for air.

"Jake! Oh, Jacob…" I cried, wanting to hug him but keeping a little distance just in case he wasn't quite as happy to see me as I was to see him.

"Bella?" he rasped hoarsely once he'd stopped coughing, looking up at me bleary-eyed and shaking. "Is that really you? Geez…you smell bad!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not the only one," I laughed, and then throwing caution to the wind, I pulled him into a tight embrace. "Oh, Jake," I sobbed, and then quickly released him when I felt his ribs move beneath my hands.

"Sorry…still getting used to my strength," I apologized.

"S'okay…" he wheezed, catching his breath…again. "You feel like a block of ice, though."

"Yeah…it's a vampire thing." I shrugged, embarrassed.

"What the hell was that explosion?" he asked, and I swallowed hard. "You guys using firepower now?"

"Not exactly. That will take some…explaining," I offered tentatively, not sure how much I should say.

"Yeah…you can add it to the list of all the other things you need to explain," Jake muttered, his expression turning fierce. "Like how the hell you got turned into a damned vampire and what you and the freakin' mindreader were up to before we arrived!" he growled.

It wasn't really any of his business, but I could see how he would think it was under the circumstances. I had no intention of answering…yet. I was just relieved that we were talking, and he wasn't trying to kill me.

"Oh!" I cried, remembering. "Quick…we have to go help Leah and Embry. Edward's reviving Quil, but the others aren't breathing!"

"What?" Jake leaped to his feet then staggered and would have fallen if I hadn't caught hold of him, my vampire speed and reflexes coming in handy.

"Edward? How's Quil?" I called, half-carrying Jake over to where I'd spotted Embry lying frighteningly still, face down on the ground.

"He's coming around," Edward called back. "But you need to get to Leah…her thoughts are fading!"

Rapidly explaining what I knew—of how the 'explosion' had rendered the wolves unconscious and stopped their hearts and breathing—I left Jake to work on reviving Embry and raced to where Leah lay unconscious on the far side of the meadow. Laying her on her back, I grabbed the shirt I saw tied to her leg and draped it to hide her nakedness then quickly started CPR.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Jake seemed to be struggling, swaying where he knelt over Embry. Edward hobbled over to help him, leaving Quil sitting against a tree. A tense standoff ensued between the battered opponents, and I wondered if I would have to intervene. But then Edward's family arrived—_finally—_bursting through the trees before coming to a sudden, shocked halt.

"Holy frickin' cow!" Emmett muttered, taking in the scene. Jasper echoed the sentiment with a long, low whistle.

"Carlisle…quick," Edward called, stirring the onlookers from their stunned stupor. "Check on Quil…the boy sitting over by the tree. Alice, help Bella with Leah. This one's Embry…his thoughts are still strong, but if I don't get his heart going soon, he'll be in trouble."

Jake continued to guard his friend, weaving a little where he knelt, his eyes darting warily.

"Jake, please…let Edward help," I pleaded, even as I kept up the carefully spaced and seemingly minute compressions of Leah's chest with Alice now helping me by breathing for her. "Otherwise Embry will _die_!"

With a reluctant nod, Jake got to his feet and stepped back, allowing Edward to go to work and try to save the life of one his attackers while ignoring his mangled lower leg and brutally battered hands. My throat tightened with pride and the overwhelming love I felt for him, and sobs shook my chest.

"Here…let me," Esme offered, coming to kneel beside me. Her hands gently moved mine aside and took up the rhythm of the compressions. "You've done enough. Go to Edward."

I didn't hesitate and reached Edward just as Jasper did the same for him, taking his place working to revive the Quileute teen. Falling into each other's arms, our mouths met in a kiss that was more about relief that we were both alive than passion, though with the memory of our lovemaking so recent, our neverending desire for one another simmered just below the surface.

"Oh…geez," I heard Jake mutter and could only imagine how difficult it must be for him to see me with Edward, but I didn't stop kissing the man I loved beyond all reason…I couldn't.

Embry and Leah were both coming around; I could hear them coughing and the stilted explanations they were receiving to explain why they'd had to be revived by relatives of the vampire they'd just been trying to kill. The whole thing wasn't going over very well, but right now, I had other priorities.

Edward's skin felt hot beneath my touch…not as hot as Jake's or Leah's but much warmer than usual. Pulling back from his embrace, I saw that his eyes looked glassy, and there was no denying that he was in pain…a lot of pain.

"Edward?" I murmured, reaching to stroke his face. He slumped against me, and I shook him, getting no response.

"Carlisle!" I screamed, and Edward's father was at my side in an instant.

"Here, let me." He helped me lay Edward on the ground and then went to work checking his injuries. "Do you have the missing pieces?" he asked, sparing me a brief glance.

"What? No!" I gasped, looking around in a panic. "Everything got blown away when my shield went crazy."

"It's okay, sis," Emmett came to kneel beside me, putting his arm around my shoulder. "We'll find the missing bits."

"But…but what if they're gone?" I cried, suddenly distraught. "What if the wolves swallowed them?"

"Gross!" Jake retorted. "It's bad enough having to sink your teeth into a stinking bloodsucker. There's no way we're gonna _eat_ one!"

My shoulders slumped in relief, but looking at the desolation all around us, my fear soon revived.

Finding the pieces that had been torn from Edward's body would be like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. Or so I thought. The supernaturally enhanced senses of my new family members were quickly put to good use, and in a very short time they returned from their search with the piece of flesh that had been torn from Edward's leg and his missing fingers.

"Here, give them to me," Carlisle ordered, closely examining the pieces while I moved to cradle Edward's head in my lap. He was mumbling incoherently, moving restlessly as I stroked his forehead with my fingers.

"He's so hot," I murmured, and Jake snorted from where he stood leaning against a tree, watching us with a belligerent expression on his face.

"Oh…please," he muttered, and I glowered up at him.

"What?" he demanded. "Don't look at me like _I've _done something wrong. You're the one mooning over the damned bloodsucker that _attacked _you and stole your _life!_"

"You don't understand, Jake," I mumbled. "He's sorry…and I'm okay…really."

"Oh…well, that just makes everything perfectly all right then, doesn't it!" he shouted, pushing away from the tree, though he hadn't taken more than a step before Emmett and Jasper had him by the arms, holding him in place.

"I'm not going to hurt her, you idiots! I love her!"

Jake's words were met with stunned silence, and I dropped my head, unable to continue meeting his agonized gaze.

"And I'm not the only one," he continued hoarsely. "Bella…do you have any idea what your _death _did to your dad…your friends on the res…_me_? Why didn't you let us know that you were still alive? And how the hell could you…you…_hook _up with the jerk that did this to you?"

His anguished plea struck me like a blow, and I flinched.

"I didn't just 'hook up' with him, Jake. I _love _him." I tried to explain, knowing my words would hurt but not about to deny my feelings for Edward…not even to protect my best friend.

"Love him?" Jake lurched forward but Emmett and Jasper held him easily. "How can you love him? You've only known him a month. He's a damned bloodsucker!"

"And so am I!" I cried. "There's no going back, Jake. I'm going to be this way forever."

"But that doesn't mean you have to _act _like them, Bella! How could you…you…_sleep_ with the guy after only knowing him a few weeks…or is that something else about being a newborn you can't control, along with the damned bloodlust?"

"That's enough," Jasper growled. "Keep it respectful or this conversation is over."

"My feelings for Edward are real, Jake. Being a vampire just sped up the timeline a little," I answered softly, before taking a deep breath. "I slept with him because I love him…and because he's my husband."

Jake seemed to crumple in on himself at my words, his knees buckling. I thought I heard him mutter something about Charlie having something to say about my declaration, but I didn't have time to worry about my friend or to explain to him _why _I'd kept my existence a secret. Edward was in trouble…he should have recovered by now.

Carlisle had continued to work on his son, ignoring the unfolding drama. It was a strange process to watch…the medical doctor who normally worked on humans coating pieces of marble-looking flesh in venom from his own saliva before placing them carefully back in place without stitches or medications.

But something was wrong, the miraculous vampire healing process beginning and then failing, despite Carlisle applying the venom repeatedly.

"Carlisle?" I murmured, worried.

Edward was gritting his teeth in obvious pain, and he felt hotter, his temperature rising.

"I don't know," Carlisle muttered, scowling. "Something's keeping the venom from doing its work. Jasper?" he called, and the tall Southerner left Jake to Emmett's _care_ and came to crouch beside us.

"Have you ever seen anything like this…or heard of it?" Carlisle asked, and Jasper frowned, shaking his head.

"Reminds me of a human who's been bitten by a snake. I think it's the wolf saliva…acting like a poison."

"What?" I gasped. "Will he be all right? How do we help him?"

Carlisle reached across Edward's body to gently stroke my shoulder. "Don't worry, Bella. I won't let anything happen to him…especially not now that he's finally found you. Congratulations, by the way."

"Oh, for crying out loud," Jake muttered, but I ignored him and let myself be pulled into Carlisle's comforting embrace.

"Sorry to break up the family bonding time," Leah interrupted, her tone typically sarcastic, though I had to admire her feisty attitude considering she could barely stand and was being heavily supported by Esme. "But would you mind telling me what happened to my little brother?"

"Seth?" I frowned, puzzled.

"Yeah…the grey wolf that followed you down the mountain. Last I saw, he had you around the ankle, and then everything went to hell. What'd you do to him?" she demanded, and my stomach heaved.

"Oh, God…that was Seth?" Turning to Jasper, I made my own demands. "Did you see him on the way up here? Was he all right? You didn't hurt him, did you?"

"Whoa!" Jasper held his hands out in front of him. "We didn't see him, but we did pick up his scent. His trail led away from the meadow, so we didn't pursue it."

"Oh, God," I repeated, overwhelmed.

Edward was badly injured and very sick, and I knew enough to know that vampires weren't supposed to get sick…or be affected by poison.

The wolf that I'd _crushed_ and whose scream still echoed in the back of my mind was Seth, the boy I'd either played alongside or helped babysit every summer for as long as I could remember.

My best friend was no longer trying to kill us, but I'd well and truly broken his heart and now he was glowering at me like I was a total pariah.

And to cap it all off…this was supposed to be my wedding night!

_~OB~_

**_I know…I know…more rotten cliffhangers, but it can't be helped. We've reached a crazy, angsty, lots of things happening at once stage of the story, but I promise, I'm writing as fast as I can! _**

**_My poor little vamp tale gets so little love in comparison to my AH period fic, A Forbidden Love, so I decided to put in a special request for Christmas. I know you guys are out there reading—almost two thousand visitors per chapter!—but I don't hear from that many of you. So…if you rarely (or never) review, how about showing Once Bitten some love and leaving a review this chapter? It would make this a very Merry Christmas for me. :D_**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_PS: Almost forgot. If you're after a couple of awesome Christmas stories, check out the following. They're both posting a chapter a day until Christmas._**

**_Sherryola's, The Promise of Hope, is only six chapters long but it gets my heart pounding every time! - fanfiction dot net/s/7653827/4/_**

**_Also...The Twelve Days of Christmas by twilover76 is absolutely lovely - fanfiction dot net/s/7635824/10/_**


	34. Frantic

**_Thanks Stephenie Meyer for turning my life upside down. It's been 2 ½ years since I first watched the Twilight DVD, and I have no idea what I used to do with all my time! ;D No copyright infringement intended. _**

**_I'm so glad you all enjoyed the last few chapters...even with the dreadful cliffhangers. Sorry I didn't manage to reply to every review, but between all the Christmas craziness, babysitting duties and preparing for a housewarming party on New Year's Day, I ran out of time, I'm afraid. I was going to try and reply to them all tonight, but I'm guessing you guys would prefer I just hurried up and posted the next chapter and *ahem* wrote the one after that!_**

**_My betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, have gone above and beyond this last couple of weeks, beta'ing multiple chapters of AFL and OB while coping with Christmas, visitors and the stomach flu! 3 3 3_**

**_Thanks to TraceyUK for giving Once Bitten its 1600th review. :D_**

**_Updated: Friday December 30th 2011  
>Words: 5725<em>**

Chapter 34

Frantic

BPOV

"You bitch! How dare you hurt my brother?" Leah screamed and would have lunged at me, but Esme and Rose easily held her back.

"What did you expect?" Rose retorted. "You were trying to destroy her mate!"

"It's my _job!_" Leah shouted. "Now let me go. I have to get to Seth," she finished on a sob, and I flinched.

"We'll all go," Carlisle announced, his tone calm but authoritative. "You'll need our help."

"The hell we will!" Jake shouted, struggling against the hold Jasper still had on him.

Carlisle ignored him and directed Emmett to lift Edward into his arms.

"We need to get him back to the house," Carlisle explained and I nodded, gently stroking Edward's burning brow.

"I can carry him...let me," I pleaded.

"Nah, sis...you just hold his hand and look pretty," Emmett teased, his humour amidst the current chaos seeming very out of place. But then I saw the incredibly worried look in his eyes, and I relented.

"I think we're going to need your help keeping wolfy boy from losing it, as well," he added in a whispered aside, and I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Jake...you guys are still shaky from...from being unconscious," I placated, hoping he would listen. "I...I squeezed Seth pretty hard, and we need to get to him to make sure he's okay. We'll have to work together."

Jake wasn't the only one to growl in response, Leah and the other boys looking like they'd rather chew nails than accept our help despite the fact that they could all barely stand.

"We _don't _need your help. Sam and the rest of the pack will find Seth. You haven't heard the end of this."

"Jacob, stop being so damned pigheaded," I rebuked, running out of patience. "I...I didn't know it was Seth, but I think I really hurt him. I felt his _bones_ break! Carlisle is a doctor. You have to let us help."

"We're _wolves _Bella...we heal fast."

"Not that fast," Leah contradicted, and it was only then that I noticed she was favoring her right side. "I think my ribs are broken...and my arm. Your boyfriend got me a good one when Seth blinked out." She nodded in Edward's direction, her expression reluctantly respectful.

"Jake...Seth must have phased back when he was hurt," Quil added, his voice shaking. "Sam won't be able to hear him. We've got to go find him...before it's too late."

"Quil's right," Carlisle interrupted, his voice brooking no argument. "Bella's told us about Seth...how young he is and how much she cares for him. Now is not the time to let our differences get in the way of helping the boy. We've wasted enough time."

Scowling, Jake brusquely nodded his agreement.

"Rose...you assist Leah. Jasper and Esme, can you help Quil and Embry? Jake...you're with me."

"Geez...this is pathetic," Jake grumbled when Carlisle lifted him off the ground with one arm around his waist and Jake's arm slung over his shoulder.

Muttering and complaining about the cold and the smell—apparently vampire/wolf incompatibility extended beyond our differences in temperature—the young and still clearly shaken Quileutes let their enemies help them down the mountain.

"Edward, baby," I murmured, holding his hand as I ran alongside Emmett. "I'm with you, sweetheart. We're taking you home and we're going to get you fixed up as soon as we can. I love you so much. You just hold on...you hear me?"

Edward squeezed my hand, and a sob caught in my throat.

"That's a good sign, Bella honey," Emmett reassured as we raced through the forest, quickly leaving the others behind. It would have been quicker if they'd just picked up the injured Quileutes and carried them, but I don't think my proud friends would have agreed.

"We're close," I told Emmett.

Despite the fact that it was now the middle of the night, I easily recognized the area where I'd had the run in with Seth.

"There!" I shouted, pointing to a flash of brown flesh visible from beneath a scrubby-looking bush.

Reluctantly letting go of Edward's hand, I gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and then went to check on Seth.

He was conscious, curled on his side and moaning in pain.

"Oh, Seth...I'm so sorry," I whispered, stroking the hair back from his face. He was even hotter than the other wolves and drenched with sweat.

"Bella?" he gasped, his eyes fluttering open. "S'at you?"

"Yeah...it's me, buddy," I murmured, using my nickname for him. "Try not to move, okay? Carlisle's coming. He's a doctor, and he'll help you, but you mustn't fight him...even though he's a vampire. Promise me?"

Seth shrugged then whimpered in obvious agony. "Don't care if he's a freaking zombie if he can help stop this pain," he whispered hoarsely, and I half-laughed, half-sobbed in response.

"They'll be here soon. Just hold on, Seth...everything will be okay," I crooned, and he reached to grasp my hand.

"Ummm...Bella? Might need your help over here." Emmett's tone caught my attention, as did the sound of fast-approaching heartbeats.

Had Jake and the others been able to phase into wolves again? They hadn't seemed up to doing much of anything when I'd seen them last.

"Not _our_ wolves, Bella," Emmett muttered quietly, answering my unspoken question.

"Oh, crap," I whispered as Emmett carefully lay Edward down next to Seth. The two of us then turned just in time to face the huge black wolf that burst through the trees, flanked on either side by another half-dozen of the enormous creatures. Coming to a sudden stop, they studied us, and I could only imagine the strange picture we must have made.

"Sam?" I called tentatively, swallowing hard. "Listen...we can talk about this later, but Seth's hurt—_bad. _Dr Cullen is coming to help—" My words were cut off by the sounds of their snarls.

"Any chance you've developed a bit more control over that shield of yours since practice yesterday?" Emmett muttered, and I jumped.

"Shit!" I swore, and he chuckled. It wasn't like me to swear, but considering the circumstances, I thought it was fairly understandable.

Moving backwards so that my heel came into careful contact with Edward's wrist, I whimpered with relief when I felt his hand close gently around my ankle. A quick glimpse down showed me that, despite the fact he looked barely conscious, he'd reached his other hand to grasp Seth's shoulder. The circle was complete.

"Grab hold," I called to Emmett, who closed the space between us. As soon as I felt his large hand close around mine, I let my shield activate, doing my best to contain the power I felt building within me.

"Stay back!" I shouted at the wolves, my free hand stretched out to ward them off. "I've got a...a shield thingy. You can't see it, but it _will _hurt you if you come too close!" Gulping, I hoped I was telling the truth and that it would keep them away...without doing too much damage.

Ignoring my warning, the black wolf leaped forward, rapidly closing the distance between us with the others right behind him. Their ferocious growls sent shivers down my spine.

"Don't let go!" I shouted to Emmett.

I could feel him tensing to lunge at the terrifying-looking monsters bounding toward us. It took all I had not to cringe away in terror, my killer instinct noticeably absent.

_Some vampire I am_, I thought. All I wanted to do was defend the ones I loved and be left in peace to go on loving them, not fight the wolves that wanted to tear us apart. But I wouldn't let them hurt Edward again...or Emmett...not if I had a say in the matter.

I flinched when the wolves reached us, but then they hit my shield, and all hell broke loose...again. Sparks flew in every direction, like a sizzling Fourth of July display, and the howling wolves went flying...tumbling backwards until they lay still on the ground. Then, one by one they disappeared; unconscious, naked Quileutes taking their place.

"Oh hell...not again," I groaned.

"Bella?" I heard Edward whisper, and I was kneeling at his side in an instant.

"You okay, darling?" he murmured hoarsely, his whole body shaking with painful-looking tremors.

"Oh, Edward," I sobbed, gently hugging him close. "I'm fine, but I think I did it again, and this time, there are _seven_ of them!"

"No...they're still breathing...listen."

I did as he asked, relieved to hear the much fainter, though admittedly uneven-sounding, heartbeats of the men and boys lying sprawled across the forest floor.

"They're coming around," Emmett warned, and I looked up to see him crouching defensively in front of us.

_Oh please, let that be the end of it,_ I silently begged. Seth was in obvious agony, and Edward was looking worse by the minute. Getting them both back to the house and the help they needed was the only thing I cared about.

I didn't want to watch while the Quileutes stood shakily to their feet, their nakedness more than a little intimidating, but I was afraid to look away in case they phased back into wolves or decided to attack us in their human form. Thankfully, they turned their backs on us—_warily—_and pulled on the shorts they'd had tied to their lower legs.

Once he was covered up, Sam staggered a little closer, one hand stretched out before him the way I'd seen the Cullens and Denalis approach me when I was practising with my ability as they tested the air for the edge of my invisible shield.

"It's all right. I won't hurt you," I said, standing to face him. "As long as you don't attack again."

"Seth?" Sam queried hoarsely, swaying on his feet, and a sob caught in my throat. I shared his concern, but I dare not let him any closer in case he used the opportunity to try and harm Edward. The last thing I wanted was to have to unleash another burst of power, or whatever it was my shield created, like I had in the meadow. Just coming in contact with the shield had done enough damage to this group of wolves. I was worried a full-strength burst might actually kill them, considering their now weakened state.

To my relief, Carlisle and the others arrived before I had time to respond, and I turned my back on the wolves to kneel beside Edward. The Cullens immediately released the Quileutes they'd been helping and formed a guard between Edward, Seth and myself and Sam and the others...not that they looked to pose too much of a threat at the moment.

"Listen to me, Sam. All I want to do is to help Seth and get my son home to heal," Carlisle explained as he came to kneel between Edward and Seth. "Enough with the hostilities."

"It's not like I've got much choice with that weapon of Bella's," Sam replied bitterly.

"Weapon? What damn weapon?' Jake demanded, and I shrugged.

"That, er..._explosion,_ up in the meadow, was actually...me," I offered sheepishly. "I have a talent...a shield thingy. But I didn't know it could do so much damage."

"Damage?" Jake shouted, coming as close as the family would allow. "You damn near killed us all, Bella! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't _thinking_ anything other than that I had to save Edward...at any cost!" I shouted in return.

"Oh yeah...that's right. You're bloodsucking _husband_ comes first now...ahead of your friends...ahead of _me!"_

"He's my _mate, _Jacob. I love him! I'm sorry if that hurts you, but I can't help the way I feel."

"He's a freakin' vampire, Bella. You can't love a vampire...they're not even alive!"

I gasped at Jake's words, the pain of them cutting deep.

"So I guess that means that I'm dead to you, too...now that I'm a vampire." I couldn't keep the hurt from my words, and it was Jake's turn to flinch.

"Argh..." He clutched his hair with his hands, frustration and anguish written clearly on his face.

I would have gone to him, but I couldn't leave Edward. Carlisle had quickly checked him over, his worried expression telling me all I needed to know. He'd begun working on Seth, the boy whimpering and gasping with pain but so clearly trying to be brave while Carlisle examined his broken body.

"Enough with the melodramatics." Leah surprised me by rebuking Jake when it looked like he was going to start on me again. "You're such a hypocrite anyway, Jacob. You know you could still imprint, and then where would Bella have been? You say you love her, but you would have dumped her in a heartbeat and barely looked back."

"Imprinted?" I asked, the other Cullens looking as curious as I to know the meaning of the word.

"Yeah...it's like finding your soul mate, but times a thousand," Leah explained with a roll of her eyes. I wondered at the cynicism in her tone, but now wasn't the time to ask. I hoped that imprinting was like a vampire finding their mate, for if it was, that meant Jake might find someone to take my place in his heart. I'd never felt about him the way he obviously did about me, but he was still my best friend, and I didn't want him to suffer.

Leah had worked her way closer to her brother, her eyes darting warily from the Cullens to where Seth was still being worked on by Carlisle.

"Please?" she pleaded softly looking to me, and I nodded my head for the others to let her through. Quickly coming to kneel at Seth's head, her trembling hand reached to stroke his sweating brow.

"How bad is he?" she whispered, her eyes glancing up to Carlisle then skittering away. I could only imagine how much it cost her to know that her brother's life was in the hands of someone she considered her enemy.

"Bad, I'm afraid," Carlisle replied. "The bones all down the left side of his body have been crushed. They keep trying to heal at an accelerated rate, but they're out of alignment. I need to get him down the mountain immediately. There's morphine at my home, which should mask the pain enough for me to reset the bones so that he can heal correctly."

"Sam, please...no more," Leah implored her pack leader. "You let Dr. Cullen help Emily. You've got to let him help Seth."

With a terse nod of his head, Sam stepped back, the others following his lead.

"I'm going to run with him the rest of the way," Carlisle explained as he gently lifted a moaning Seth into his arms. Emmett followed suit and picked Edward up, his expression as worried as mine at the tremors shaking Edward's body and the way he'd locked his jaw against the pain.

"You all still look a little shaky, but your heartbeats are strengthening," Carlisle added. "I wouldn't recommend trying to phase again until you're feeling back to normal. Do you want some of my family members to assist you the rest of the way down the mountain, or would you prefer to take your time and meet us at the house?"

"We'll make our own way," Sam ground out between clenched teeth, his pride clearly wounded by the humiliating experience of being bested by...well..._me. _

"Can Leah come with us?" I interjected. "Esme and Rose could help her. She'll be perfectly safe with us, we promise, but Seth needs his family with him."

"We're _all _his family," Jake muttered, and I came close to rolling my eyes at him myself.

"I'm going with Seth," Leah announced, her chin raised belligerently in Sam's direction. "Don't try and stop me."

"I won't. We'll be there as soon as we can."

With a nod, Carlisle turned and began running as smoothly as he could down the mountain track with Emmett carrying Edward right behind him and the rest of the family spread out protectively around us. Considering how quickly we left the wolves behind, I didn't imagine there were any other threats to worry about, but they weren't taking any more chances. This time, Esme carried Leah piggy-back...and she kept up easily.

The night-darkened forest passed by at incredible speed. Emmett landed heavily after clearing a particularly steep ridge, and Edward moaned, the sound cutting through me like a knife.

"Baby?" I whispered as I ran alongside them. "It won't be long...we're nearly there."

I wasn't sure if that was true, not having come this way before. But to my relief, we soon reached the river that ran behind the Cullens'..._our..._home.

"Hold on," Emmett warned, but he made the fifty-yard leap easily and relatively smoothly.

"Take Edward to my room," Carlisle ordered as we reached the house. "I'll need the medical equipment in my office for Seth. But as soon as I've got him set up with a morphine drip, I'll come check on Edward."

"Who do you want me with?" Jasper asked, holding the doors open to let us pass.

"Edward, for now," Carlisle answered. "But I'll need you with the boy when I reset the bones. Even with the morphine, it's going to hurt like hell."

Leah whimpered, tears running silently down her cheeks.

"Don't worry," Esme offered kindly. "He's young...and a _wolf..._he'll heal fast once the bones are in the right place."

"It's Edward I'm more worried about," I heard Carlisle mutter, and my heart clenched tightly in my chest.

Once Edward was laid carefully on Carlisle's bed, I climbed up beside him clasping his least damaged hand gently in mine. The missing pieces had begun to knit in place, but only partially, and angry red-looking wounds still surrounded the joins and in the places where the wolf bites had sunk especially deep.

"He's burning up," I murmured, turning to Jasper for reassurance but finding none in his pained expression. That's when I realized Edward's brother was attempting to siphon his pain.

"How bad is it?" I whispered, dreading the answer.

"He's in agony," Jasper shrugged, not hiding the truth. "I'm doing what I can, but there's only so much of it I can absorb."

Alice had come to stand beside her husband, her arm wrapping tightly around his waist.

"Can you see if he's going to be all right?" I asked and she shook her head, her expression as worried as Jasper's.

"I can't see anything with the wolves nearby."

"What about in the future...can you look ahead to see if he recovers?" I finished on a sob.

"I don't know," Alice whimpered. "I've been looking, but it's not working. I think I need to get a bit further away from the wolves to be able to see anything."

"I can't leave Edward, and you're not going away from the house alone." Jasper's tone was understandably adamant. For all we knew the Quileutes may have been able to phase back by now, and while I didn't think Sam would order another attack with Seth and Leah in our care, none of us were willing to take that risk.

"We'll go with her," Rose offered from the doorway where she, Emmett and Esme stood watching on worriedly. "If we head in the other direction, we shouldn't have to go far. Maybe Alice will pick up some clue as to how to help Edward."

I didn't think Jasper would risk Alice going off without him, but he nodded his assent. Then, tugging her close for a searing kiss, he released her to go with the others.

"Don't go far...or be long," he warned, his words sounding more like a plea than the commands I was used to hearing him issue.

"We won't," Esme confirmed, handing Jasper a cellphone.

"We'll call if Alice sees anything that might help," Esme explained in response to Jasper's raised brow. "Even a few minutes might make a difference."

Biting down on my fist, I tried to stifle the sobs that rose in my chest at Esme's words. I kept waiting..._hoping..._that someone would tell me not to worry, that of course Edward would be fine. But they didn't. Seeing the fear in their faces only reinforced my own terror.

Esme spared me a look of sympathy, and then the four of them disappeared, leaving Jasper and I to comfort Edward while Carlisle worked on Seth in his office-cum-infirmary down the hallway.

Time seemed to drag, and Edward grew worse. His moans faded as his body shut down...or so it seemed to me. Without a heartbeat, and now that he was no longer bothering with breathing, I had no way to know how he was doing. If I didn't know he was a vampire, I'd have assumed he was no longer alive.

The toll on Jasper was severe, and he eventually slumped against the wall, sliding down to sit on the ground, his head resting on his bent knees bent in front of him.

The cellphone rang, and I leaped from the bed, answering it before the first ring tone was completed.

"Ice!" Alice shouted. "You need ice!"

"What? Make sense Alice," I demanded.

"Vampires are cool and wolves are hot," she replied, leaving me none the wiser and wondering, not for the first time, what exactly went on in her mind.

"Alice..." I groaned.

"No...listen, it makes sense," she insisted. "The wolf saliva is making Edward overheat. We need to cool him down so his venom can overcome the effects of the saliva!"

"Okay," I acknowledged. That actually did make sense. "What should I do?"

"We're going to bring home bags of ice from town, but if you go down to the kitchen, you'll find some ice in the deep freeze. I must have had a hunch, as I bought a bag the last time I went shopping."

"Right...I get the picture," I told her. "We'll see you when you get back...and Alice? Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," she chimed, and the line went dead.

"What..._picture_?" Jasper asked, and I smiled, my relief at finally having something to do...and _hope_...almost overwhelming.

"We've got to cool him down...right down," I explained. "You fill up the bath with cold water and I'll run down to get the ice. The sooner we can get his temperature down, the sooner his venom will start working properly again."

"I'm on it," Jasper nodded, heading for the adjoining bathroom which fortunately contained a large, corner spa bath.

Leaning down, I kissed Edward's burning brow and then raced from the room. It was only when I'd finished rummaging in the bottom of the ridiculously overstocked freezer, finally locating the bag of ice, that I heard the sound of visitors at the door.

"Jake!" I called, racing to let them in, hoping against hope that he might have calmed down enough to just be glad that I was alive.

Throwing open the door, the last person I expected to see was Harry Clearwater, Seth and Leah's father. From the horrified look on his face, it was obvious that he wasn't expecting to see me either...my blood-red-eyes and vampirized appearance no doubt adding to his shock and fear.

"Harry?" I winced as the man who was one of my father's best friends—and who was like an uncle to me—grasped at his chest, his complexion turning ashen.

"Harry!" I cried as he began to fall, catching him before he could hit the ground. Lifting him carefully in my arms, I tried not to panic. Carlisle would know what to do, but he already had his hands full with Seth, and I needed to get back to Edward as quickly as possible.

To add to the chaos, I spotted the headlights of a couple of utility vehicles careening down the long driveway. Overloaded with members of the wolf pack who must have decided to go via the reservation and grab their vehicles rather than try and cross the river in their human forms, they screeched to a halt next to Harry's old truck near the front porch.

"What the hell did you do to Harry?" Sam shouted, leaping from one of the trucks before it had even come to a halt, Jacob and Quil close behind him.

"Nothing!" I cried, my concern turning to anger. "He just saw me and then keeled over. What's he doing here, anyway? Don't you know I'm not supposed to be around humans! I'm a _newborn..._remember?"

Sam froze a few feet away from me, the others coming to stand arrayed behind him. From the way they were eyeing me—even Jacob—it was obvious they expected me to sink my teeth into Harry's neck at any second.

"Oh...don't be ridiculous," I muttered. "It's _Harry!_ I'm not going to hurt him."

"Why not?" Quil asked, stepping forward. "Aren't you supposed to be like...totally out of control and crazy insane for blood?"

Blinking, I realized I didn't have an answer. Harry's blood smelled funny and his heartbeat was more like a constant vibration in his chest than a regular beat. But regardless, I had absolutely zero desire to attack him. It had only been half a day since I'd drunk from the deer and wildcat—both having far more appetising scents than Harry's. Maybe I just wasn't thirsty yet—though the memory of drinking from the mountain lion did cause the flame to flare in the back of my throat—but drinking Harry's blood? The idea was ridiculous...and repulsive.

Shaking my head, I turned and carried Harry into the house. "I don't have time for this," I grumbled over my shoulder. "I've got to get him up to Carlisle. Could one of you bring up the bag of ice...please?"

"Sure, sure," Jacob muttered, the familiar phrase bringing a lump to my throat even as I raced up the stairs.

Fortunately, only the three of them followed me, Sam having ordered the rest of the pack to wait outside. But even so, the look on Carlisle's face when he stepped into the hallway and saw me running toward him with an unconscious Quileute elder in my arms and three more pack members following behind me would have been funny...if the situation wasn't so damned dire.

_How much more could go wrong this night?_ I wondered, desperate to get back to Edward. The last thing I wanted was to have Harry's death on my conscience even if it would have been purely accidental.

Following Carlisle's instructions, I laid Harry on Rose's and Emmett's bed, trying not to be bothered by Jake's and the others' grumbled comments about the offensive vampire odor...and failing.

"Yeah, well, you guys don't exactly smell like roses to me," I retorted, snatching the bag of ice from Jake and racing for Carlisle's and Esme's room.

Jasper met me at the door, his eyebrows rising at the sight of Jacob close on my heels.

"I ran into a problem," I grouched. "Harry Clearwater had a heart attack at the sight of me, and Carlisle's checking on him now. Maybe you should go to Seth while I get the ice treatment started?" I suggested.

"Edward's in the bath already." Jasper indicated with a nod of his head, and I pushed past him, determined not to be delayed from being with my mate by any more dramas.

When I saw Edward's semi-naked body laying motionless on the bottom of the large, partially-filled spa bath, I gasped and came to a sudden stop. While I knew that he had no need to breath, the sight was..._unsettling _to say the least.

Jake just managed to avoid running into the back of me, then seeing where I was staring, he whistled.

"Well, that looks promising," he muttered. "What's the ice for...to preserve the body?"

Spinning around, I shoved him so hard in the middle of his chest that he flew backward and hit the far wall of the bedroom sending a crack spiralling up toward the ceiling.

"He's not dead!" I cried, my voice catching on a sob. "How'd you like it if you imprinted on some girl and then I got all jealous and wanted _her _dead?" I demanded as Jake slowly got to his feet, rubbing his chest where I'd hit him in obvious pain.

"Geez, Bella...I think you broke my sternum!" he grumbled, his voice hoarse.

"Well...stop trying to kill my boyfriend or wishing him _dead_, and I won't have any reason to hurt you," I retorted before ripping open the bag of ice and dumping it in the bath around Edward's inert form.

"Oh, God...please let him be all right," I whispered, climbing into the bath in my, by now, very ragged shorts and torn top. Settling myself behind Edward, I lifted his head out of the water to rest against my chest. Swirling the icy water around him, I hoped to start cooling his overheated body even before Alice and the others arrived with more ice.

"I thought you said he was your _husband,"_ Jake snarked from where he stood just inside the doorway watching me, his tone dripping sarcasm. "So, when was the _ceremony_?"

"Today," I whispered hoarsely. "We got married today, just the two of us before God in Edward's meadow."

Jake snorted. "You honestly believe God's going to honor the wedding vows of a couple of vampires? 'Cause I can damn well guarantee that your dad won't give his blessing."

My voice catching on another sob, I shot Jacob a hurt look. "You know what, Jake? I don't care what you think, because you're every bit as much of a monster as Edward and me. I can't be around humans for at least a year, and Charlie can't know about vampires or _his _life will be in danger...so as much as I wish I _could _tell my dad about Edward...I can't. Does that make you happy?"

"_Nothing_ about this sick situation makes me _happy, _Bella," Jacob spat. "Watching you with your arms wrapped around that...that..._demon..._makes me want to throw up!"

Edward moved restlessly in my arms, galvanizing my attention.

"Just leave, Jake," I muttered, my eyes on Edward's pain-ravaged face as I gently stroked his hair back from his forehead. "Maybe we can talk again when you're prepared to be more reasonable."

"Yeah...I'll show you _reasonable," _Jake retorted, leaving the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

Whimpering, I did my best to stifle the sobs that convulsed my chest. My best friend was acting like an idiot, and while I could understand his anger and confusion—sort of—my priority was Edward.

"I love you, sweetheart," I murmured, leaning down to kiss the top of his head.

Edward mumbled incomprehensibly, but any sort of response seemed like a good sign. He was starting to cool, but not quickly enough.

To my relief, I heard Alice grumbling about the wolf invasion as she and the others reached the house. Mere seconds passed before the door to the bathroom flew open and the four of them burst in, their arms laden with bags of ice.

"Oh good, you've made a start." Alice smiled at me and dumped a couple of bags of ice in the bath.

"How long will it take him to recover?" I asked as Esme came to kneel beside us and reached to stroke Edward's arm. His hand floated on the top of the water and looked a lot better to me already, the red lines that radiated out from where his fingers had been rejoined not looking so angry or extending as far up his hand and wrist. Moving the ice a little, I asked Esme to take a look at the injury on his calf. She sobbed at the sight of the terrible wound, but confirmed that it appeared to be healing, the tissue starting to knit properly.

"Oh, my poor boy," she cried softly. "What they did to you..."

"Esme?" Edward whispered hoarsely, surprising us both. "Don't worry...I'll be okay."

"Oh, Edward," I breathed, my joy at hearing him speak echoed by the others.

"Bella?" he murmured, his eyes fluttering open briefly before closing again. "Love you..."

"I love you, too, baby," I whispered softly, holding him close as the ice continued to pile up around us. It was a good thing I was a vampire also, or I'd never have been able to tolerate the cold, but it didn't bother me in the least. Of course, I could imagine that under different circumstances, a nice _warm _spa bath would be more pleasant...especially if I was sharing it with Edward.

"I think that's enough for now," Alice directed and they piled the remaining bags against the tiled wall. "Now that the ice has cooled him enough for the venom to start overpowering the wolf poison, it shouldn't take long for him to fully recover."

"Thank you so much...all of you," I murmured. "Alice and Esme, you go be with Jasper and Carlisle. I'm sure they'll appreciate seeing you and could probably do with your help considering all the other stuff they've got happening at the moment."

"As long as you're sure?" Esme asked, and I reached to grasp her hand, nodding my assurance.

"We'll stay," Rose offered, indicating her and Emmett. "Though once Edward's feeling better, I'm imagining some privacy will be in order."

I lifted an eyebrow, puzzled.

"Sweetie, it's your wedding night...remember? Congratulations, by the way, from all of us. We're so happy for you both."

"Oh!" I gasped and ducked my head in embarrassment. "Thank you, but you won't have to leave. The house is full of people, and I'm sure Edward won't want to, um..._you know..._after...everything."

Emmett's booming laugh and Rose's knowing look surprised me.

"Bella, baby, you don't know vampires—or men for that matter—if you think Edward's going to have anything else on his mind after this little 'near-death experience. But don't worry, we'll run interference on the wolfy boys and make sure you have some privacy."

Emmett's words added to my embarrassment, and I wanted to tell him that he had it all wrong. But then Edward moved in my arms, reaching to grasp my hand that held him tightly around his middle.

"He's right," I reached down to hear him murmur. "...feeling better by the minute, and the only thing I want...is _you_!"

_~OB~_

**_Hmmm...not sure even Edward could entice me into a spa bath filled with ice...but a hot tub? Now, that's a different story. ;) _**

**_I'd love to hear what you think of this rather action packed chapter. I don't imagine there will be too many complaints about the story moving too slowly this time...but you never know. LOL! :D _**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_PS: I'll try and do better on the review replies this chapter._**

**_PPS: Happy New Year! _**


	35. Gifted

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended. _**

**_I have some exciting news! _**

**_Once Bitten has been nominated for a Shimmer Award (Snowflake Quarter) in the Tale Award category for AU stories. Voting opens on January 14th. _**

**_Sorry I haven't managed to reply to all the lovely reviews this week. Real life has been a tad challenging, but I can assure you, I read and appreciate every single review. :D_**

**_Special thanks to petra-eyes for giving Once Bitten its 1700th review. Yay! _**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, and to my prereader, Content,1 for all your support. And to hotwardfangirl, who's taking a break from prereading over the holidays, thanks so much for all your help with the story to date._**

**_Updated: Saturday, January 7th 2012  
>Words: 5823<em>**

Chapter 35

Gifted

BPOV

Despite Edward's declaration, his recovery took some time. It wasn't easy for either of us. Neither was listening to Seth's screams when Carlisle reset his broken bones. Thankfully, they'd stopped some time ago, and he was resting now.

The wound I'd received on my ankle from Seth's wolf teeth had healed almost instantly. But Edward's injuries were so much more severe. I could only hope that it was his reaction to the wolf saliva that was making his recovery so agonizing. The thought that he might have gone through anything like this when I'd torn off his arm was too much to bear.

Thankfully, the awful wounds were almost completely healed, the red, angry lines having disappeared. It was the rigors that shook Edward's body, and the way he grit his teeth to keep from groaning aloud, that let me know how much he was suffering.

Holding him as close as I dared, with my arms and legs wrapped around his body, supporting and comforting him at the same time, I murmured words of encouragement.

"Love you," I whispered for the umpteenth time, leaning down to brush my lips against his brow.

"Mmm." Edward managed to hum in reply, and I wondered how much longer the torture would last. If it didn't ease up soon, I'd call for Carlisle, though I was holding off as he had his hands full already.

At least we weren't being left out of the loop, as I could hear everything that was going on inside...and _outside..._of the house, and various family members were taking turns to sit by us and keep us informed of events.

Harry was in a serious condition, and Carlisle decided he needed to be transferred to hospital immediately for treatment. I'd thought he was joking when he said he was going to call for an ambulance, but the story he and Jasper concocted seemed to go over okay.

"There's been a trail bike accident near my home." Carlisle informed the dispatcher when he made the call. "A thirteen-year-old boy, Seth Clearwater, has suffered some minor injuries—nothing serious." That had met with a storm of protest from the waiting wolf pack, until Jasper had told Sam to remind them that none of us could afford to have Seth taken to the hospital where his accelerated healing would not go unnoticed. "But his father, Harry Clearwater, suffered a heart attack when he came to check on him, and he needs the ICU immediately."

Wisely, Sam carried Harry outside to meet the ambulance, saving the complication of the paramedics having to come into the house. While I'd heard numerous murmured comments about the "remarkable self-control" I'd shown for a newborn—from both the Cullens and wolf pack members—none of us wanted to take any chances.

Personally, I had a feeling that the reason I'd found Harry's smell offensive probably had more to do with the wolf genes he carried than the fact that I was somehow miraculously unaffected by the scent of human blood. There was no way in hell I'd want to sink my teeth into any of the wolf pack members to taste their blood. It was hard enough just being in the same room as them, considering how bad they smelled. From the muttered comments they kept making about the bleach smell burning their sinuses, I gathered the feeling—and incompatibility—were mutual.

The thought made me sad. While I didn't think I would have ever felt about Jake the way he seemed to feel about me, I was still sad about having hurt my best friend. That didn't mean he wasn't acting like a total jerk, but I could cut him some slack, considering the circumstances...the crazy, insane, living-in-a-world-of-make-believe, circumstances.

Sighing, I continued to stroke Edward's arms and chest soothingly, not wanting to think about Jacob at the moment. He'd taken off in a huff—going 'wolf' right out in front of the house—relieving his pack mates immensely, as it meant that their ability to phase had only been temporarily disrupted. I could only hope his run in the forest, or whatever he was doing, gave him the chance to cool down a bit. There was no going back to the way things had been before I met Edward—for any of us—and the sooner he came to terms with that, the better.

Once things settled down a little, Alice came to sit with us for awhile, surprising me with her words.

"I am so very sorry that we didn't get there in time," she murmured sadly, reaching to brush Edward's hair back from his forehead. "I'll never forgive myself for letting Edward get hurt like that."

"But, Alice," I contradicted. "It was _our_ fault for staying out too late. You warned us to be back before dark, but...well..."

Alice smiled at my embarrassed look and leaned over to give me a hug, not seeming to care that her silk designer blouse ended up soaked in the process.

"Honey...no one—and I mean _no one—_thinks that you guys are in the wrong. I was pretty sure that, one way or another, you were going to end up making love this afternoon. And once that happened, keeping track of time would have been the _last _thing on your minds." She shrugged, her expression rueful. "But I thought you were going to make it back in time...at least that's what I saw in the version of events that I _very quickly _glanced over. I was trying to give you guys some privacy, so I didn't look at the visions too closely. And I was just so happy for you," she concluded with another shrug.

"What about when it got late, and we still hadn't returned?" I asked, not wanting her to feel bad, but genuinely puzzled.

"Well..."Alice began, looking sheepish. "The visions I saw _before _you went off for the day were typically quite vague, as there were still so many decisions you both needed to make. But once you agreed to consider Edward's very Edwardian, "we have to be married first" perspective, the visions started to solidify. Your wedding was so beautiful, Bella, and just perfect for the two of you, considering the circumstances—"

"But..." I interrupted. "I thought you'd be furious...about missing out on being there, and the whole planning the wedding thing."

"I _might _have been," Alice admitted, "if you hadn't mentioned your willingness to have a more traditional ceremony with the family later on. I've been seeing pictures of you in a stunning white gown since the first day I saw you at school, and not just you but—" She cut herself off with a shake of her head. "Well...we'll have to see what happens with that. Anyway...I got distracted with ideas for your _second _wedding ceremony, and I may have got the others caught up in the planning and internet searching and looking over all the bridal magazines I've been madly buying up every time I do the food shopping for Charlie, not to mention going over Rosalie's extensive collection...and the time got away with us. I didn't realize I couldn't see you guys anymore—a sure-fire sign that the wolves had shown up—until Jasper couldn't stand it anymore and _insisted_ I put the wedding planning on hold and check to see how far away you were."

"Oh..." I murmured, a little stunned. It looked like I'd be having the big wedding with the fancy dress after all...eventually. I really didn't want to think about the prospect of all that fuss, not just now when I was practically overdosed on drama. But I did my best to reassure Alice that I didn't blame her in any way. I _had _asked her for privacy, after all.

To my relief, as soon as Harry was collected by the paramedics, Carlisle came to check on Edward.

"I'll have to go into the hospital to oversee Harry Clearwater's initial care," he explained, while carefully checking Edward's hands and leg. Everything else was fully healed...and without any scarring.

"Why is that?" I asked, when Jasper commented on this fact.

Both he and Carlisle shrugged.

"My best guess is that even though the wolves' teeth are sharp enough to penetrate our skin, it takes venom to leave permanent scarring," Carlisle answered. "It looks like there will be a very faint line where the larger pieces were reattached—I had to use myvenom to accelerate the healing—but nothing too severe."

"Not like my sorry carcass," Jasper joked, and Alice hugged him comfortingly.

"I wouldn't care one bit if Edward was covered with scars," I responded with passion. "As long as he gets better, that's all that matters," I finished on a sob, and Edward reached to stroke my arm.

"S'okay, baby," he murmured, his voice sounding a little stronger. "I'm going to be fine...thanks to you."

I laughed at that, still feeling like I'd created more problems than I'd fixed. Though the fact that Edward was lying in my arms—alive and with his memory still intact—was something I would be eternally grateful for. I was just relieved that none of the wolves had died, and that Seth seemed to be recovering.

Carlisle left soon after for the hospital, reassuring Sam and the others that Seth was healing well and would hopefully be able to be transferred to his home on the res in just a day or so. At that, Sam ordered the pack members that hadn't gone with Harry to the hospital to return to their duties running patrols to protect the tribe and town from the renegade vampires that were still at large. Leah stayed to be with Seth, and Sam promised to check in on them regularly. I don't think he felt overly comfortable about leaving them in a house filled with vampires, even with the respect he had for Carlisle.

Sighing with relief, I heard Sam order a group of the older wolves to go check on Charlie and set up a perimeter around his house. When day broke, he'd be out again with his _only human _fellow police officers, hunting the "serial killer" who'd, so far, brutally murdered five backpackers and hikers.

Edward began to move restlessly in my arms, scratching at the back of his calf and fingers.

"Sweetheart?" I queried, and he groaned.

"I know I should be grateful for the venom's healing power but, sheesh, it stings…and then it itches!" he grumbled indignantly, and I couldn't keep the relieved smile from my face. One thing I knew from nursing my dad, Jake, and even Seth through the odd summer cold, was that if a boy or man felt well enough to complain…he was on the mend.

"Do you think you need to stay in the ice? If the venom's done its job, maybe a warm shower would be soothing?" I suggested, and Edward surprised me by flipping over in my arms so that he was facing me, pressing me against the curved end of the bath.

"Hey?" Emmett cried, doused by the wave of water that Edward had sent splashing over the rim of the tub. Chuckling, he rose and grabbed a towel to dry himself off. "Think that might be my cue to leave you guys alone," he continued making his way to the door, and neither Edward nor I contradicted him, our attention completely focused on one another.

"Well, I'll be seeing you two later…have fun!" Emmett laughed, closing the door behind him.

"Hi," I murmured, reaching to stroke Edward's cheek as I gazed into his thankfully clear amber eyes.

_~OB~_

EPOV

"Hi, yourself," I whispered huskily and leaned in to kiss my wife.

"Ahhh…" We moaned our appreciation together, the feeling that accompanied the brush of our lips sublime. As our mouths sealed together, her taste burst on my tongue, and I literally could not get enough of her. I would _never _get enough of Bella.

"I've been so worried about you," she whimpered when we finally broke the kiss.

"I know, sweetheart, I know." Crooning my reassurance, I peppered her face and neck with more kisses, holding her as close as I could considering our somewhat awkward position.

I _hated_ that I'd put her through the stress of waiting for me to recover, but I couldn't ever recall being so debilitated, certainly not since I'd become a vampire. The pain caused by the combination of having pieces torn from my body and the adverse reaction I had to the wolf saliva was worse than anything I could remember…_almost_ as bad as the torturous, never-ending agony of my change.

A shudder ran through me at the memory of having venom steadily transform my DNA and human flesh into crystalline vampire tissue and the excruciating pain that had accompanied the process.

"I'm also really, _really,_ angry with you," Bella murmured between returning my kisses and caressing every inch that she could reach of my arms, back and hips.

"You are?" I lifted my head to see her expression. Her eyes had darkened with desire, but her brow was creased and her lip quivered with emotion.

"You _tricked_ me!" she cried. "You _lied_ to me—about a lot of things—but you told me you'd be fine, that you could fend off the wolves while I went to get help."

"I had to try and protect you, Bella, to make sure you were safe," I defended.

"Why? So I could live in misery without you?" she retorted and then hugged me close when I would have expected her to push me away. "Do you honestly think I could stand living my life—my never-ending life—without you by my side?" she sobbed against my shoulder.

"No...I don't know…I'm sorry, sweetheart; I just didn't know what else to do."

"Why didn't you come with me?" Bella asked, pulling back to look me in the eye. "We could have run away from them together."

"Because they would have caught us in the forest, and you could have been badly hurt…or worse."

"But we're so fast."

"So are they." I grimaced. "Otherwise they wouldn't be able to fulfill their purpose. And we were seriously outnumbered, though I didn't realize that Seth wouldn't try and hurt you…or Jacob for that matter."

"I _told _you they're my friends," Bella grumbled. "And _you_ should have told me that you thought they would view me as the enemy because I'm a newborn."

"If Sam was with them, he would have insisted the others attack you, Bella. But you're right, and I'm sorry. I should have told you the truth. The rest of the family wanted me to, but I didn't want you burdened by any more losses, and I didn't think it would be an issue."

"Because they weren't supposed to know that we're both still _alive_…though I don't think that's the way they view us." Bella's expression turned so sad that I hugged her close and then lifted us both from the bath. While the icy cold didn't bother us the way it would a human, now that I'd almost fully healed and was no longer in agony, a hot shower would feel very, _very _good…for a number of reasons.

"Whatever we are, sweetheart, we're _not _dead, and for that I will be eternally grateful," I murmured, carrying her to the twin shower and turning on the multiple jets to blast us with hot water.

"Me, too," Bella sighed against my neck.

Between one breath and the next, I divested us of our torn and sodden clothing, and we both hesitated, standing and staring at each other in awe under the streaming jets.

"You are so beautiful, so precious to me," I whispered, reaching to stroke my fingers softly down the side of her face.

"You, too." She nodded, her eyes traveling slowly down my body, widening slightly as they moved like an invisible caress over my straining erection and then continuing on to my feet. Her gaze shot back to my face, and she stepped toward me, bringing our bodies into contact, skin to skin. We gasped in unison at the exquisite sensation, hugging each other close.

"I thought I'd lost you, Edward," Bella whimpered, nuzzling against my chest.

"I know, my love, but I'm right here." I soothed.

"Any you're sure you're okay?" she demanded, pulling back and running her hands over my chest and arms, her eyes closely examining every place that had been torn and bitten. Capturing my hands, she brought them up before her face, studying them intently and then softly kissing the faint lines that showed where the fingers had been reattached.

"I'm sure, baby, I'm sure,"

Her breath hitched in her throat, and she reached up to cup my face. "Does it still hurt? Are you in any pain?"

Shaking my head, I leaned in to kiss her gently but soundly, hoping to reassure her with my actions where my words seemed to be failing. My calf still stung and itched a little, but it was nothing to earlier and easily forgotten with Bella in my arms.

My erection pressed insistently against the slight curve of her belly, trapped between us and behaving like it had a life of its own…which I suppose it did in a way, as I seemed to have no control over it whatsoever.

"Are you sure you're up to it?" Bella asked, her expression shy and her eyes not quite meeting mine.

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips.

"Oh…sweetheart," I murmured, pressing a little more urgently against her. "I am most definitely _up_ to it."

"Good," she declared, a relieved smile lighting up her face.

Then, unable to hold back any longer, I lifted her as she practically climbed up my body. I didn't mind at all, and in one semi-smooth move—I was still a little wobbly on my feet but not about to let that stop us—I turned so that Bella's back was against the tiled wall. Then as she wrapped her legs around my waist, I lowered her onto my waiting and incredibly eager shaft…no preparation…no build-up…just Bella's exquisite body joining with mine in the most elemental way.

"Oh, yes!" she cried again once I was embedded within her, and we both paused, savoring the complete and utter perfection of the moment.

"I like this being married business," she breathed, wiggling a little to draw me even deeper as she sought my mouth and captured it for a searing kiss.

"Me, too," I rasped, when I was capable of speech.

Then the time for talking was over, and I began to move inside her. Bella pushed back against my determined thrusts in counterpoint as I penetrated her again and again, the feel of her tight, silken sheath welcoming me into her body while she held me close, overwhelming my senses.

My head fell back, and I couldn't contain the cry that burst from my lips as a combination of exquisite pleasure and sheer joy drove the memory of the attack from my mind.

Of course, my cry was heard by all the varied inhabitants of the household—save for Seth, who was thankfully sleeping deeply due to the effects of the morphine drip Carlisle had set up before leaving for the hospital—and I was bombarded by a cacophony of thoughts and images.

Losing my rhythm for a moment, I hesitated.

"What is it?" Bella panted, and I groaned, shaking my head in a pointless attempt to clear it.

Other than Leah, who was thoroughly disgusted and trying to decide whether it would be safe for her to leave Seth alone and go wait outside for the duration, the others were overjoyed and only wished us the very best of happiness. But it was still disconcerting to see the images that had suddenly filled everyone's minds, as they couldn't help but picture Bella and me together.

Groaning, Bella let her head fall forward to rest against my shoulder.

"They can hear us, and _you _can hear them," she muttered in understanding. "Do you want to stop and go down to the basement? Though that won't block out the thoughts, will it?"

"Afraid not," I murmured, shrugging my shoulders and attempting to pick up where we'd left off. "Doesn't matter…I'll ignore it. Just took me by surprise," I assured her, but Bella suddenly tensed and leaned back against the wall, bringing her truly delightful breasts into view.

Moaning, I leaned down to capture one of her wet, glistening, rosy nipples with my lips, distracting us both. She gasped, and held my head in place, as I nuzzled and suckled the sweet bud deep into my mouth.

"Remember Tanya," she panted after a moment, and I released her nipple, my head shooting up to meet her startled gaze with a horrified one of my own.

"Why the hell do you want me to think about her?" I demanded, though I kept my voice to a whisper, hoping the lack of volume and the streaming jets would at least drown out our conversation.

Bella's eyes widened, and then she chuckled. It was such a wonderful sound, I couldn't help joining in, though I had no idea why were laughing. I couldn't see anything funny about discussing my old nemesis while Bella and I were in the middle of making love…for only the _third _time. We'd been married for more than twelve hours!

"My shield," Bella giggled. "It blocked out Tanya's thoughts…and everyone else's. I haven't been practicing that aspect of it, but I could try doing that again. Then you wouldn't be able to hear everyone's thoughts."

"They'll still be able to hear _us_," I admitted reluctantly, but to my relief, Bella shrugged.

"Turnabout's fair play, if you ask me." She smirked, but then a frown furrowed her brow. "I'm just a little worried about the water, as the shield seems to be, I don't know…_electrical. _The last thing I want to do is fry us, after everything else that's happened tonight."

It was my turn to chuckle. "I'm sure we'll be fine," I encouraged her, and she tentatively let the shield activate, holding her breath until she knew we were safe.

I couldn't resist moving inside her a few times, pressing her back against the tiles with my thrusts, until she moaned for me to stop.

"I don't know if this will work," she panted. "I'm not sure I'll be able to keep it activated when I'm so…involved."

"Just try," I murmured hoarsely while nibbling on the deliciously sensitive skin of her neck just below her ear. "Vampires are exceptional multi-taskers."

Bella's laughter did interesting things to the way our bodies were joined together, and we both moaned.

"Okay…but stop tormenting me. I have to be able to concentrate while I get it working," she admonished, and I reluctantly held still, keeping my lips a bare whisper away from her skin.

"Not helping," she gasped, the air escaping from my mouth teasing the fine hairs that coated her skin, so I held my breath.

The sooner she had her shield under control, the sooner we could continue…and I _desperately _wanted to continue.

A few seconds passed with no change, and then, one by one, the mental thoughts and images of the various family members scattered throughout the house—they were all incredibly curious as to what we were doing—faded away until I was left alone with the blessed silence of my thoughts…and nobody else's.

"Oh, thank you," I moaned, able to focus fully on my love without distraction. "Will that be difficult for you to maintain?"

Bella continued frowning in concentration for a moment, and then a dazzling smile lit her face.

"Nope," she replied, as she snuggled enticingly against me. "I've delegated it to the same part of my brain that keeps my breathing going automatically. Don't ask me how," she muttered when I raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "It's working…and that's all that matters. Now, where were we?"

_Where were we indeed?_ I mused, filing away that fascinating tidbit for further discussion at a later date. While I lowered my head to the breast I'd not yet paid any attention, Bella began to move herself deliberately—and very, very slowly—up and down the length of my, by now, throbbing erection.

Sheer…utter…bliss…

How on earth had I survived for almost a century without Bella…without _this_?

There was no answer to my question, and all I could do was thank God that I didn't have to live another day—another _moment—_without her .

We held each other tight…kissing…caressing…tasting…as I moved inside her with long, slow, smooth strokes. She felt so incredibly good in my arms and wrapped around me, all wet, slippery skin and sweet curves. The steamy heat from the shower captured her aroused scent, wafting it over us, and I breathed it in deep, wanting to take her inside me, just as I was inside her.

Intoxicated by her essence, I nuzzled Bella's neck, murmuring, "I love you…I love you," over and over, as I pressed her against the wall.

"Love you, too," she gasped, arching her back and pushing down hard, meeting me thrust for thrust.

"More," she pleaded, and I gladly obliged, the love I felt for her overwhelming my heart and my actions.

"Better?" I rasped, lifting a hand from her hip to tease and caress her breast, as I moved hard and fast inside her.

"Oh…oh yes!" she cried and came apart in my arms.

Her astonishing inner contractions squeezed me tight, the intense and ongoing sensations they created triggering my own orgasm, and ecstasy overwhelmed me. Carried on wave after wave of pure pleasure, we shuddered in each other's arms, our cries mingling together, creating the sound of perfection.

When time regained meaning, and our panted breaths had slowed enough to make coherent speech an option, I gazed adoringly into Bella's passion-clouded gaze.

She only uttered one word, but it was the only one I needed to hear.

"Again," she demanded breathily, and I willingly obliged, though I had something a little different in mind…something I'd barely given myself leave to fantasize about before this amazing night.

Lifting her up a little, I gently disengaged myself from her body and then stood her on her feet. Waiting until I was sure she had her footing, with her back resting against the wall, I knelt before her, holding her hips while the hot water cascaded over us like a waterfall. Not having to breathe certainly had its advantages…especially for what I had in mind.

Kissing and caressing her taut, quivering belly, my hands roamed and shaped the curves of her bottom. Then, bringing one hand around to tease her swollen sex with my fingers, I glanced up to see her eyeing me warily, her pearly teeth nibbling on her lower lip.

"Edward?" she whispered, shaking her head. "I don't know…"

"It's okay…you'll like it. I promise," I reassured her, my tone just a little bit pleading. Understanding her nervousness—this was all so new to both of us—I utilized my most mesmerizing smile.

"Okay…if you're sure you want to," she conceded, hesitantly nodding for me to continue.

_Oh…I wanted to!_

Stifling a groan, I wasted no time, nuzzling her soft curls and then opening her sweet, sensitive folds with first my fingers, and then my mouth. Feasting on her with my lips and tongue, I hummed with pleasure at her incredible taste, licking and sucking while her hands tangled in my hair, holding me in place.

"Oh…oh, Edward," she gasped sounding surprised, her beautiful breasts rising and falling with her shuddering breaths.

Stroking inside her with my fingers, I alternated between rapidly flicking my tongue over her swollen nub, swirling my tongue around it in slow, sensual swipes, and suckling it in my mouth. She seemed to enjoy all the variations, the rapid movements in particular. So I kept it up, vibrating her nub with my tongue, suckling her sweet folds with my lips and stroking her insistently with my fingers until she screamed her pleasure.

Wave after wave of bliss caused her legs to tremble as she collapsed against the wall. Held up by my arms, I drew every last ounce of pleasure that I could from her, milking her sex of her delicious essence.

When she finally recovered, Bella was nestled in my arms, the warm water falling like a soothing rain around us.

"Oh my…" she whispered. "That was…that was _amazing."_

"I'm glad you liked it." Smiling smugly, I leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

"Did you?" she asked, a tentative look returning to her eyes.

"Oh, yes!" I insisted, nodding my head enthusiastically. "Very…very…much."

"But…didn't it…didn't it tasteawful?" she whispered.

"Taste for yourself," I suggested, capturing her lips with my own and drawing her tongue into my mouth.

Her muscles tensed for a moment as her eyes widened, and then she moaned—in surprise and pleasure, no doubt, at her incredibly delicious flavor on my tongue—and she relaxed against me, throwing herself into the kiss.

"Wow…" she breathed huskily when she pulled back, licking her lips. And then she looked down, her gaze locking onto my perpetually hardened length.

"My turn," she breathed, and I almost came on the spot.

"Bella," I groaned, partly in protest, as I wasn't sure I would last very long if she carried through on the latent promise in her eyes, and partly pleading in case she didn't.

"Please? I want to, but you might have to show me what to do."

Nodding jerkily, I sat very still, resting on my haunches, as she slid from my lap. Kneeling before me, she brought her hands to rest gently on my thighs, and I couldn't contain the shudder of anticipation that ran through me. First reaching to shut off the jets, she glanced up to meet my hungry gaze, swept her wet hair out of the way over one shoulder and then lowered her head. At the same time, her hands encircled my throbbing erection and slowly stroked me up and down. When her lips kissed the sensitive tip, I twitched in her hands, a guttural growl rumbling in my chest.

Worried that she might feel pressured if I held onto her, I gripped my hands into fists and pressed them against the tiles at either side of the shower stall. Then I locked my body in place, my eyes fixed on Bella's determined, curious expression. The gentle questing movements of her fingers felt like silken feathers against my sensitive flesh, and I hardened and lengthened impossibly thicker and longer in her hands. Her eyes shot to mine…wide…dark…languorous…and then she opened her mouth and slowly swept her tongue, first across her own swollen lips and then all the way around the tip of my tingling, straining erection.

"Ahhhh…" I moaned, my head falling back on my shoulders as sensation raced along my nerve endings, causing them to fire off repeatedly like a cluster of fireworks.

My eyes were drawn inexorably back to Bella's face, and I watched with utter amazement the sensual and incredibly surreal image of her sucking me into her mouth.

I whimpered…twitching in her hands and at the feel of the wet, velvet warmth of her mouth enveloping me. I could feel her tongue tracing the outline of my tip, running up and down the sensitive slit—the growl in my chest almost turned into a roar at the way that felt—and then sliding further along my length, as she drew me deeper into her mouth until I hit against the curve at the back of her throat.

"Oh…Bella…yes…" I groaned.

Her hand remained fisted around me, squeezing, as she brought her lips down to meet it, quickly establishing a perfect rhythm. Unable to keep myself from thrusting upward, I met the movements of her mouth as she sucked me in deep, licking and stroking me with her tongue as she moved up and down my throbbing length over and over.

The feel of Bella's hands and mouth on me in such an incredibly intimate way was sweet, sublime torture, and I knew I wouldn't last very long.

"Sweetheart," I panted hoarsely. "You might want to stop, or I'm going to come inside your mouth."

Bella stopped what she was doing, releasing me from her mouth and looking up to meet my eyes. I stifled a whimper of protest.

"Would that be a problem?" she asked, and my whimper broke free, as a shudder shook my entire body.

"No…" I whispered. "But I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with."

"Oh, I'm feeling very comfortable," she replied, licking her lips and giving me a smile so damned sultry I had to grit my jaw to stop from coming then and there.

Then she lowered her head and took me inside her mouth again. Unable to resist, I tangled my hands in her hair, gently guiding her movements while I tried not to buck beneath her.

It didn't take long before I felt my eyes roll back in my head in response to her loving ministrations. The feel of my weeping erection being squeezed tightly in Bella's mouth, lips and tongue as she licked rapidly and repeatedly at the venom leaking from the tip, had me groaning incoherently. Electrical impulses traveled down my spinal column, firing again and again as the pressure built to an unbearable level, centered deep inside my groin.

Bella hummed around me, the vibrations triggering an explosion that rippled outward from the base of my spine in a cascade of pleasure. A guttural cry tore from my lips—a firestorm of bliss burning through me—and my body released my venom, pumping it in streaming jets down Bella's throat while she licked and sucked me deeper and deeper into her mouth.

A part of me was worried that I might hurt her if I thrust too hard, but she took everything I had and much more than I could have expected or ever hoped for. Her mouth and hands held me to her, her moans of pleasure increasing mine until any sort of coherent thought was impossible, and I gave myself up to the ecstasy of the moment.

This time, I was the one who virtually passed out, eventually opening my eyes to find myself sprawled across the floor of the shower, my head resting against Bella's perfect breasts.

"Hey, baby," she whispered, smiling down at me before she leaned over to capture my eagerly waiting lips for a kiss. I could taste myself on her mouth—taste both of us—and I moaned my appreciation, for that and for everything about the beautiful, loving, sensual woman who I had been gifted with as my wife.

_~OB~_

**_I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I seriously considered splitting it into two, but I thought that would be a bit mean considering the *ahem* nature of events. _**

**_But…I was wondering what you guys would think of me switching to twice weekly posts of shorter chapters for the remainder of the story rather than the weekly post of a longer chapter that I've done to date. My AH story, A Forbidden Love, updates more often with shorter chapters, and my readers seem to really enjoy the quicker updates as they help maintain the stories momentum. _**

**_Let me know what you think, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. ;)_**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	36. Lucky

**_Thanks to Stephenie Meyer for Twilight. No copyright infringement intended._**

**_Thanks to all my wonderful readers and reviewers for their encouragement and support and for staying with me throughout this tumultuous journey. _**

**_Once Bitten has been nominated for a Shimmer Award, (Snowflake Quarter), in the Tale Award category for Best AU. Voting opens January 21st if you feel like showing my little vamp story some love. _**

**_Thanks to my wonderful betas and prereaders, Chloe Cougar, Squeaky Zorro and Content1 for all their amazing support. _**

**_Updated: Friday, January 13th 2012  
>Words: 3850<em>**

Chapter 36

Lucky

BPOV

My…oh…my…oh…my…

The words repeated in my head, a litany of surprised delight at the sheer ecstasy I'd experienced at Edward's intimate touch. Of course, I _knew_ that people did the things we'd just done, but I'd never really understood the appeal. Now I did, having discovered a world of bliss so intense I couldn't quite believe I'd survived it. To my joy, _giving_ pleasure to Edward was every bit as good as _receiving _the pleasure he gave me.

And the taste!

There were certainly some things about being a vampire that were very, very nice. For starters, Edward tasted like honey, with maybe a hint of cinnamon, and my own taste wasn't bad either, which had been a huge relief.

And then there was the look on his face when he came and the way he shuddered as the pleasure rippled through him. The feel of him literally pumping inside me as he released his venom was as wonderful as the incredible noises he made, everything from the sound of a lion roaring to a _very _satisfied cat purring as he lay collapsed against me.

The noises I made seemed a little more embarrassing in comparison, but I knew that Edward enjoyed hearing how he affected me…and I don't think I could have held back if I'd tried.

Making love with Edward had been a series of revelations, not least of which was the experience of coming apart in his arms. I'd had no idea that an orgasm could feel like that…in fact, I didn't think they usually did. From the magazines Renee had left lying around on purpose for me to read, I knew that what I'd experienced wasn't exactly normal…the intensity…the incredible duration…the utter, overwhelming, mind boggling "wowness."

Distracted by the glint of diamonds, I gazed in wonder at the stunning ring that now graced my left hand and considered the other revelation I was still coming to terms with. I was a married woman now, which was a little challenging when, in reality, I was just a teenage girl…or would have been, had I still been human.

Breathing deep, the love of my…_existence _stretched in my arms like the big jungle cat I'd been comparing him to.

"Hey, beautiful," he breathed, reaching up to cup my cheek with his hand.

"Hey, yourself." I smiled in return, continuing to hold him close.

"Time we got up off this floor, I think," he murmured, looking around as if in a daze.

I wasn't sure I'd ever seen Edward looking so relaxed. His erection—I'd have to ask him if he had a particular name for it, as I had no idea what to call it—was finally not quite so…_erect. _Or, at least, it hadn't been when he was resting in my arms. Just the action of my eyes moving over him had been enough to bring it springing back to life.

"Seriously? You want more?" I teased, secretly wondering how we were ever going to stop…when it would ever be enough.

"Always!" Edward growled, standing and scooping me up in his arms. "But first I think we need to debrief, if that's okay with you?"

Chuckling at the fact that neither of us had worn briefs for some time now, I nodded in agreement.

"A _little_ bit of talking would be nice," I admitted, as he carried me out of the shower and then proceeded to place me on my feet and clothe me in an enormous, fluffy, white robe. Grabbing an equally fluffy towel, he then began to dry my hair before wrapping it around my head.

"Oh…and what would Mrs. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen have in mind for _after _she's indulged her new husband with a _little _bit of conversation?" he teased, releasing me long enough to pull on a matching robe. Gathering me back into his arms, he kissed my nose…and then my cheek…and then nuzzled below my ear.

Enjoying his lovely caresses and my new-found boldness—he was my husband after all, so why not?—I slipped my hand between the folds of his robe and captured his very impressive and still very erect, er…_member_ with my hand.

"Oh…I'm sure I can come up with something," I whispered huskily, and Edward's chest vibrated with that delicious-sounding purr I could add to the growing list of addictions I'd acquired since becoming a vampire. I loved the sound of it and was determined to hear it often…just as I loved the feel of him lengthening and throbbing in my grasp.

He twitched in my hand, his hips thrusting automatically toward me, and I opened both our robes. Pressing our naked bodies together, we groaned at the truly delightful sensation of silky, smooth skin against skin, his hard, muscular planes pressing against my more feminine curves.

"Maybe the 'something' can come first, and the 'little bit of conversation' can wait," Edward growled, lifting me again and carrying me through to the bedroom.

We hadn't made love in a bed yet, and I was looking forward to the experience. But then the realization of exactly _whose _bed it was came crashing down on me.

Tensing, I clung to Edward's shoulders when he would have lowered me to the bed.

"Sweetheart?" he queried, his expression concerned.

"This is your parents' bed," I whispered, horrified. "And these are your parents' robes…and that was your parents' shower!"

Edward's frown slowly morphed into a smile—one of his deliberately mesmerizing, totally dazzling smiles—but I refused to be distracted.

"Seriously, Edward, we can't—_you know—_in your parents' bed!"

"Of course you can," Esme called to us from the floor below, her voice as alarmingly clear as if she were standing right outside the door to the bedroom. "I'm just heading off to the hospital to see how Carlisle is doing and won't be back for _at least_ a couple of hours, so you've got plenty of time. And before you go getting all embarrassed, Bella, Carlisle and I were wondering if we could borrow your basement room some nights to…_you know…_without anyone being able to hear us?"

I gasped, covering my face with my hands, but then I heard Emmett boom out the same request, only to be followed by Jasper shouting, "Alice and I called dibs on the basement days ago, and the rest of you know it!"

"Not until we've christened it," Edward called back, and I realized I had a decision to make. I could allow my natural shyness and innate modesty to become a problem, or I could embrace certain _aspects_ of my new life and begin as I intended to carry on.

"We're going to need a much bigger, sturdier bed down there," I acknowledged wryly, and Edward's eyes shot to my face. "Considering all the action it's going to be getting."

"Atta girl, Bella," Emmett shouted.

"I don't know why you're acting surprised," Alice piped up. "I _told _you she was going to make a wonderful member of the family."

Breathing in sharply at a frightening thought that suddenly popped into my head, I spoke without thinking, though, thankfully, only at a very low tone.

"It's only ever one couple at a time, isn't it?" I asked, clutching at the collar of Edward's robe and drawing his head down to me so that I could whisper directly into his ear. "Your family's not into…sharing or…groups or anything like that are they?"

Edward's laughter might have been insulting, but I was so relieved at his response that I chose not to take offense.

Lowering me determinedly to the bed, accompanying me in the process, Edward whispered his reply in this low, vibrating, almost subliminal tone—I'd have to get him to show me how to do that.

"You have absolutely nothing to fear, my love. Vampires—_mated vampires—_are notoriously territorial and possessive. There is no way on the planet I will be sharing you with anyone else…nor would any of the others share their mates."

Biting on my lower lip, I couldn't resist the mischievous impulse that overcame me.

"Oh, that's a pity," I murmured, though not _that _quietly. "I was kind of looking forward to a foursome."

Edward's utterly shocked expression was made even more comical by the laughter and catcalls that sounded from various locations throughout the house. All except for Leah, who had clearly had enough of our banter…and listening to Edward and me making love...I imagined.

"That's it…I'm out of here," she muttered, leaping through an upstairs window.

"I'm sorry, Leah!" I yelled. "I was only joking…honestly."

"Yeah, well, just look after Seth for me," she replied. "I need to go check on my dad and clean my brain out with Clorox or something. I'll be back before daylight."

"Okay…we will," I called toward the window, rattling it with the strength of my voice. "Don't worry about Seth…we'll look after him…I promise."

"Do you think she heard me?" I turned to Edward, worried.

"Drop your shield, and I'll let you know," he answered me, and I did as he asked, secretly amazed that I'd kept it working all this time despite…everything.

He winced when it came down, and I snuggled against him on the big, soft bed offering comfort. I couldn't begin to imagine what it must be like having everybody else's thoughts cluttering my head.

Edward's smile reassured me. "She's fine," he murmured, pulling me tighter against him. "And not as upset as she made out to be. More jealous, and a little sad, I think. There's some story between her and Sam, but I only got glimpses of it."

"Oh, good." I nodded, relieved and a little curious. Last I recalled, Sam and Emily had been engaged, but I'd definitely picked up on some tension between them when we were up on the mountain.

"So…where were we?" Edward murmured, opening the sides of the robe that I'd snatched together when I'd stopped to consider our location. "Hmmm…that's right," he hummed against my neck as one hand reached to cup the breast he'd bared and the other circled my waist to draw me close. "A little 'something' before we talk."

"Actually," I interrupted, gently pushing him away. "There's another, er…_something _I need to deal with before we do anything else."

Blinking, Edward looked at me in surprise, not expecting my rejection.

"I think I need a _newborn_ moment," I admitted apologetically, my hand going to my throat. It hadn't been twenty-four hours since we'd hunted, but with all the stress and…_activity, _my thirst had decided to make its presence known in no uncertain terms.

With a glance toward the door, Edward quickly tugged my robe closed and helped me up from the bed.

"Come in," he called, and Jasper and Alice entered the room wearing matching grins and carrying a couple of bundles of clothing and a backpack.

Despite my earlier decision not to let my natural shyness bother me, I couldn't help tucking against Edward's side when Jasper slapped him good-naturedly on the back. The wink he gave me went a long way toward easing my embarrassment…or maybe it was the waves of contentment he caused to wash over us as he and Alice once again congratulated us on our marriage.

"All right, you two…enough already," Edward groused, and I could only imagine that more was being _thought _than _said._

"There's just enough time for the two of you to hunt and be back before daybreak," Alice explained, handing us a pile of clothing each and placing the backpack on the bed. "Here are your hunting clothes…little more than rags really, or that's all they will be by the time you're finished. And the bag contains some clothes to get changed into for the return journey_._"

Irritated by her smirk, I couldn't help but arc up a little.

"I'm not a complete baby anymore, Alice," I grumbled. "I _can_ feed without getting blood all over me, you know."

With a tinkling laugh, Alice drew me into a hug.

"Oh sweetie…it's not the blood I'm planning for. The change of clothes is because of what's going to happen _after _you hunt."

Frowning, I stared at her, puzzled.

"I'm not coming with you this time, Bella." Jasper offered. "I need to stay and keep an eye on the boy. And besides, you guys don't need me anymore, being fully mated and all."

It took a second for me to catch his meaning, and when I did, I spun and hid my face against Edward's shoulder. We were going to need extra clothes because I was going to rip ours from our bodies when the lust hit.

"Sweetheart, it's okay," Edward murmured, lifting my chin so he could look me in the eye. "You won't be the only one feeling it. I need to feed again to complete the healing, and I won't be running away this time," he whispered huskily, and I whimpered at the flames that ignited at his words…in my throat…and low in my belly.

"Is it safe enough for us to venture out a little way?" Edward asked, and Alice nodded.

"Now that Seth's the only one here, and with him basically unconscious, I can see reasonably well. There are no black spots, though I don't imagine the wolves will bother either of you while we're taking care of Seth, and they won't want to mess with Bella's astonishing talent again in a hurry." She directed her last comment my way, grinning and bouncing up and down a little.

I wasn't quite ready to share her enthusiasm considering how close to catastrophe we'd come, though the more I thought about it, the more relieved I was that everything had turned out the way it had. Well, except for Seth and Harry, not that either of them had been harmed by my shield. Edward was alive because of my talent, and for that I was truly grateful.

"Just be back by daybreak, which is a little over two hours away," Alice continued, refocusing my attention. "There's a group of boy scouts heading out for a camping trip that I imagine you'll want to avoid."

"You think?" I retorted, though my grin took the sting out of my words.

Edward and I were going hunting together and we didn't have to hold back afterwards!

Alice and Jasper left us to get ready, and we were dressed, with the backpack over Edward's shoulder, down the stairs, and running across the backyard in less than three seconds.

"Take care of Seth," I called over my shoulder, and four laughing voices assured me that they would.

"Have fun," Emmett called as Edward and I leapt over the river, hand in hand. "And try not to take out half the forest."

"As if you and Rose aren't responsible for bringing down enough hardwoods to build a city," Edward retorted, and I laughed at the exhilaration in his expression. I'd never seen him looking quite so relaxed and carefree, not even the day before on our first outing into the forest.

"Marriage suits you, Mr. Cullen." I grinned as we raced through the trees, ducking, weaving and leaping in unison as we ate up the miles.

"_You_ suit me, Mrs. Cullen," he replied, and pulled me to an abrupt halt with my back pressed up against a huge spruce, his mouth meeting mine in a passionate kiss.

Moaning as his tongue invaded my mouth, I tried to decide which need was more pressing; my thirst for blood or hunger for Edward. But then the telltale drumming noises of a nearby herd of deer and their delicious scent caught my attention.

"Wow…great place to stop," I murmured, impressed by Edward's tracking skills.

"I know all the best places to dine," he murmured against my lips, and I giggled, grabbing his hand and racing toward the irresistible sounds and smells.

Hunting with Edward was so much better than hunting alone while he watched, though we chose separate prey, running them down with ease. The blood tasted incredible, even better than I remembered, and I wondered if it was the anticipation curling in my belly at knowing that we didn't have to hold back afterwards that added to my enjoyment.

Humming with pleasure, I finished draining the deer I'd killed, savoring every last drop.

"Do you need more?" Edward called from where he was crouched beside the body of a larger buck.

My eyes followed the movement of his hand as he wiped the back of it across his mouth, removing the blood from his lips. Whimpering—I'd wanted to do that—I stood and inhaled deeply, drawing his incredible scent into my lungs.

"I just need you," I whispered, and he closed the distance between us in a flash.

"I'm all yours," he growled, and without a moment's hesitation tore the clothes from our bodies.

Laughing delightedly—it hadn't been me to lose control first for a change—I let him spin me around in his arms, his face level with my breasts which was actually…perfect. When I felt my back come up against the trunk of another huge tree, I thought Edward was going to take me the same way he had in the shower, with my legs wrapped around his waist. But he let my body slide down until my feet reached the ground—my vampire skin not the least bit bothered by the rough bark—and then he ground against me with his hips. His straining erection pressed urgently against my belly, while his mouth found mine, kissing me over and over…stroking…tasting…devouring. I wasn't sure how much longer I could wait to have him inside me.

"Edward," I whimpered in protest. "I need you."

Growling deep in his chest, he lifted me in his arms and carried me to where a group of huge boulders had fallen down the mountain, landing in haphazard fashion and burying themselves deep into the ground. Surprising me, he put me down facing away from him and toward a waist-high rock, his hands positioned on my hips with his chest pressed against my back.

"Bend over," he ordered hoarsely, and I glanced over my shoulder. Gasping, I saw a look in his eyes that I'd never seen before, one that spoke of possession…and need. Obeying, I leant forward on the boulder, resting on my elbows. The position should have made me feel vulnerable, but I couldn't feel anything but safe with Edward…and desperate.

"Please?" I heard myself whimper, and then I shivered at the feral growl that erupted from his throat.

Pulling me back toward him with his hands at my hips, he used his knee to spread my legs wider. And then he was there…at my entrance…with his fingers, stroking and opening me to receive the blunt head of his erection.

Moaning, I pushed back against him and he thrust forward, entering me in one, hard stroke.

"Aaahhh…." we cried in unison, our bodies shuddering at the shock of his invasion. I could feel him so deep inside me, much deeper than I'd taken him before.

"Don't move," he ordered again, and I reveled in this dominating side to Edward that I'd never seen before. If I hadn't been strong enough to escape him easily, I might have found the experience a little frightening or confusing, but this was Edward in full mated-vampire post-hunt-lust mode, and he was…_hot!_

Whimpering, I did my best to obey him, _trying _to keep still when he withdrew almost all the way to the tip and then slammed back inside me with a feral grunt. Over and over again he withdrew and then thrust back inside me…harder…deeper…penetrating me to my core. At times like this I was gald that I was a vampire, as I could take everything Edward had to give…and I _wanted _to take it…I wanted all of him.

"More," I begged, and he gladly obliged, his groans mingling with my cries until we'd set every bird in the vicinity to flight with the noise of our passion.

Edward rode me hard while I begged him to take me even harder. It was unlike anything we'd done so far or anything I could have imagined wanting. But there was a part of me that exulted in our ferocious mating…the vampire part that I'd been suppressing up until now but no longer had to.

We came together, crying out in ecstasy and satisfaction, our mutual climax quite literally earth shattering. Coming slowly back to reality, it took me a moment to work out what had happened, and then I chuckled hoarsely. With Edward wrapped protectively around me, we lay on the ground, the two halves of the boulder I'd been leaning over to either side of our bodies.

"Well, we didn't take out any trees," I murmured, my body shaking quietly with my laughter. Edward didn't join me, and I looked over my shoulder, not overly surprised to see the look of horror on his face.

"God…Bella…I'm so sorry," he started, and I quickly turned in his arms, bringing a finger to his lips to silence him.

"Don't you dare apologize," I rebuked him gently. "That was incredible and what we _both _wanted..._and _needed. We're vampires…mated vampires…and its okay for us to just _be_ what we are sometimes."

By the worry in his eyes, I could tell he wasn't convinced.

"I'm fine, Edward…Look at me," I urged and his eyes traveled over my body before jerking back to my face. "See? No bruises, no marks. I wanted that…I was begging you for more. So please…don't be upset?"

"But I totally lost control, Bella. I was like an animal."

"So was I," I admitted, feeling suddenly wary. "Do you think badly of _me_ for losing control?"

"What?" Edward's eyes widened and he reached to pull me into his embrace. "No! Of course I don't! I think you're wonderful. I could _never _think badly of you."

Sighing with relief, I snuggled against him.

"Well, you can't think badly of yourself either, or you'll make me think you're ashamed of us…of me," I retorted, though very gently.

"I could never think that," he whispered. "I just love you so much, and I'd hate you to think that I don't…_respect_ you."

"I could never think that," I murmured, echoing his words. "Especially when you show me how much you respect me by taking my wishes into account when we make love in so many wonderful ways."

This time it was Edward's turn to chuckle.

"How'd you get to be so clever?" he asked, gently stroking the side of my face with his fingers.

"Just lucky, I guess." I smiled, mirroring his movements and reaching to cup his cheek.

Content to lay on the ground in the middle of the forest, wrapped in Edward's arms, I couldn't help thinking that I'd come a long way since the day I'd opened my eyes to find myself in a cold, dusty basement, terrified, confused, and feeling anything but lucky.

_~OB~_

**_My betas both loved this chapter, especially the humor. I've been so immersed in angst between real life dramas, my AU tale, and the *ahem* angsty OB chapters I'm working on, that I didn't know what they were talking about and had to go back and find the funny bits. _**

**_I'd love to hear your thoughts and any ideas on where you'd like to see the story go from here. I've got a rough plan, but am open to suggestions!_**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_PS: Thanks for the feedback about whether you'd prefer one longer or two shorter chapters each week. The jury is out...with most of you saying you don't mind as long as I keep updating regularly. :D_**


	37. The Chief

**_Stephenie Meyer owns it all. We just borrow._**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, and my prereader, Content1, for all their hard work and support._**

**_I'd just like to say thank you to all the readers who take the time to review. I'm so glad you've been enjoying the story…especially the last half a dozen or so chapters where things have finally started happening. ;)_**

**_Almost forgot…Once Bitten is up for a Shimmer Award, (Snowflake Quarter) in the Tale Category for best AU. Voting opens tomorrow. :D_**

**_Updated: Friday, January 20th 2012  
>Words: 3000<em>**

Chapter 37

The Chief

EPOV

While the temptation to remain wrapped in Bella's arms was incredibly strong, I wasn't about to ignore Alice's warning to be back before daybreak…not this time. While sneaking glances at my beautiful wife's naked body, I collected the backpack I'd tossed aside before our hunt and pulled out the clothes that Alice had wisely thought to provide us. Bella looked adorably relaxed, lounging against one half of the boulder we'd destroyed, a satisfied smile curving her cupid lips while she watched me unashamedly.

I still couldn't quite believe how forcefulI'd been with her, tearing her clothes off without hesitation. The urge to _claim _her had been so strong that I'd not even considered denying myself. I couldn't get the image out of my mind of my literally takingher from behind…not uncaring—never that—but not gently, tenderly, like the ways we'd made love earlier. It shouldn't have surprised me, considering what I knew of how mated vampires behaved when they hunted together, but our reaction to one another had unsettled me. Having spent so many years suppressing and denying my vampiric nature, it was a shock to find myself giving in to it so thoroughly and not just enjoying but _reveling_ in the outcome. Talking to Carlisle about it would probably be helpful, though I was fairly certain he'd tell me to listen to Bella's advice and enjoy all the different aspects of our relationship…and each other.

Putting off my tendency to overthink things, something Bella had already accused me of the first time we'd made love and that I'd heard from my family many times before, I took a deep breath and determined to stop worrying, not wanting to spoil our time together.

Getting dressed took us a while as we were easily distracted with sweet, lingering and increasingly passionate kisses, our wandering hands hindering more than helping each other in the process. It felt so good to be with her like this: the freedom, the intimacy, the sheer joy of knowing that she was mine and always would be. After coming so close to dying—to never _seeing_ her again—the relief from my unexpected reprieve was overwhelming. Once I put my concerns over my loss of control aside, I couldn't keep the grin off my face.

I was one very, _very _happy vampire.

The thought surprised me, and I realized that for one of the first times since Carlisle changed me, I was actually glad to _be_ a vampire. One lifetime with Bella would never be enough.

We made our way back to the house at a considerably slower pace than we'd left it, stopping every so often to exchange more kisses…caresses…smiles.

"What?" Bella asked, giggling, when I kept her pinned up against a tree for a while just so that I could gaze into her stunningly beautiful face.

"You," I answered with a shrug. "I can't quite believe that you're mine."

"Well I am," she whispered huskily, drawing my head down to softly brush our lips together. "Forever."

Sighing, we held each other close for a while and then turned to walk further along the track.

"Should we hurry it up?" she asked after a moment, sounding a little worried. "I wouldn't want to come across those…um…_humans _Alice mentioned."

"It's okay; I'm listening out and we're not that far from home. We circled back when I sensed that herd of deer."

"Oh." Bella nodded, her expression thoughtful. "I was just so happy to be running with you again that I wasn't really focusing on anything else. I didn't notice the deer until we'd stopped. I guess I've got a lot to learn," she added, sounding a little disconsolate.

"Hey! You're doing incredibly well," I reassured her. "Besides…I cheated. I heard their thoughts before I picked up the scent, so I knew which way to run. We were upwind at first, so I brought us around or we'd have spooked them with our scents."

"You _heard _their thoughts?" Bella stopped and faced me. "You hear the thoughts of _animals_ as well as humans?"

"If I concentrate." I shrugged. "It's no big deal," I explained at her horrified look. "It's more impressions than anything else…just background noise that I can block out easily enough."

Bella's expression lightened, but then her brow furrowed and she turned to continue walking.

"What are _you_ thinking?" I asked, wondering, not for the first time, what it would be like to hear her thoughts. Most people's thoughts were annoying to listen to, but I had a feeling that I would like what I heard in Bella's mind. Seeing myself reflected in her thoughts when we made love would be distracting, but knowing how I was affecting her could be helpful. Not that we were doing too badly with the way things were, I mused while I waited for her to answer, smiling at the memory of the pleasure we'd found in each other's arms.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag," she murmured after a while, and my smile faded. "Or I suppose I should say…the vampire. Jake knows about me now, along with the rest of the wolf pack. And then there's Harry, of course. Do you think he's going to be okay?" she asked, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder as we walked. "Poor Sue, she'll be so worried, and she's got so much to deal with. I'm surprised she hasn't come to the house to check on Seth."

Gasping, Bella pulled me to a halt. "Do you think Sue has the wolf gene like Harry? What if she doesn't and she smells _human? _I still haven't smelled an ordinary person to know how I'll react!"

"It's all right. We'll talk to Sam and tell him to give us plenty of warning before Seth's mother comes to the house. You and I can go down to the basement or come out here for a run to be on the safe side," I suggested, and Bella sighed with relief.

We kept walking for a while before she spoke again, her voice small and shaky.

"Do you think they'll tell Charlie that I'm alive?" she asked, and I couldn't miss the tentative hope in her tone. "They've kept the secret about the wolves from him for all this time, but…"

"It's still not safe for him to know," I reminded her, hating the sadness my answer would bring her. "And Sam won't want their secret revealed to anyone outside of the tribe."

"Charlie's practically a member of the tribe," Bella muttered belligerently, and I gave her a sympathetic look.

"I know, sweetheart. But if the Volturi ever found out that he knew about us…" I let my voice trail off, and her shoulders drooped. Neither of us mentioned the issue of what the Volturi would make of an entire pack of shapeshifters. Now that the Quileutes knew about Bella—and _me_—I imagined we'd be meeting with them soon to arrange safe passage out of the area to decrease the risk of drawing the Volturi's attention to their existence.

We made the rest of the journey in silence, increasing our pace to a run so that it only took a few minutes to arrive at the river that ran behind our house. Just as the first soft rays of morning sun topped the trees, we leaped across the river together, the smiles returning to our faces. Then I heard a jumble of thoughts and a vehicle approaching the turn off to the property.

_Sam's gonna kill me for this, but it's ridiculous to think we could keep this from Charlie. Bella's his daughter! He has the right to know she's alive, but those damned bloodsuckers better not think they can hurt him. I wanted him angry with the demon that did this to Bella, but I wish he hadn't brought his gun. _

Recognizing Jacob's thoughts along with the hazy but clearly panicked thoughts of the man driving the vehicle he was traveling in—a police cruiser—I grabbed Bella and spun her behind me, crouching defensively even though we were still fifty yards from the house.

"What is it? What's happening?" she demanded. But before I could answer, the car drove up to the front of the house, the noise capturing her attention.

"Bella!" her father shouted as he alighted from the car, his voice carrying easily from the other side of the house.

She froze, her eyes shooting to my face.

"Bella!" he called again, the anguish in his voice unmistakable.

With a loud cry, she lunged against my hold, and it took all my strength to stop her from breaking free.

"Wait, sweetheart, please," I begged even as she struggled frantically in my arms. My only hope was to be able to reason with her, and for that I needed her to listen.

"He's human, Bella. He won't smell like the wolves…you won't be able to resist the smell of his blood."

"He's my father!" she screamed at me, and then her voice broke on a sob. To my relief, Jasper and Emmett arrived to help me hold her, Jasper emanating waves of soothing calm.

"You can't keep me from him," Bella sobbed against my shoulder. "He knows I'm alive…you have to let me see him. I won't hurt him, I promise…I promise."

A gunshot sounded, and I looked up to see Chief Swan with a rifle in his hands aimed directly at me.

"You get the hell away from my daughter!" he shouted.

Jacob Black stood to his side, his smug expression fading to be replaced with anger when he saw the three of us holding Bella back.

"Let her go, you bastards!" he shouted, running toward us, the chief close behind him. I knew the instant Bella picked up her father's scent by the way her entire body tensed, every muscle bunching as a growl erupted from her throat.

"Oh, shit," Jasper swore, and I really couldn't blame him. If Bella used her talent against us, we wouldn't have a hope of holding her.

"Hold your breath!" I commanded, shaking her shoulders until she glanced up at me. "Bella, listen to me. It's your father…you _don't _want to hurt him. I know it burns, but you need to hold your breath…now!"

To my relief she obeyed me, her eyes wide and frantic, swinging between my face and that of her father, the growl still rumbling involuntarily in her chest. Rose and Alice arrived and intercepted the chief a mere twenty feet from where we were holding his daughter, stopping him from coming any closer. He struggled against them in vain, his thoughts revealing his bewilderment at their phenomenal strength.

"If we can't hold Bella, you two carry her father away from here," Jasper instructed the girls, his words adding to the chief's confusion while the rest of us waited to see if Bella would be able to bring her bloodlust under control.

Jacob came to a halt just before he reached us, finally taking in Bella's struggle and the way her eyes blazed a fiery red.

"What's going on?" he demanded. "She was fine with Harry…she carried him in her arms, for crying out loud! I don't understand."

"Harry Clearwater has the same wolf genes as you and the other pack members, so his blood wasn't _appealing,_" I ground out. "But Bella's father is human, and resisting the call of his blood is like having a red-hot poker shoved down her throat!"

"I didn't know," Jacob muttered defensively, his expression sheepish.

He'd gone to Bella's father and told him everything, even going so far as to phase in front of him. The chief wasn't sure what to believe. All he wanted was his daughter back and the person responsible for hurting her and keeping her away from him punished severely, namely…me.

"Let go of me!" he shouted. "What have you done to my daughter?" His voice broke on his final word and Bella whimpered, one hand reaching toward him.

"Daddy?" she cried and then clamped her hand over her mouth and nose, her throat moving as she swallowed repeatedly, no doubt clearing the venom pooling there.

To all our relief, Carlisle and Esme arrived, breaking through the trees and arriving at Chief Swan's side so quickly that it looked to him as if they had materialized out of thin air. Despite being startled, he remained remarkably composed, though the impressions I received from his thoughts made it clear that there wasn't a whole lot more he could take.

Carlisle reached a hand to place on his shoulder and nodded for the girls to release him.

"It's all right, Charlie. Bella's fine. They're not hurting her, just holding her back so that she doesn't accidentally harm you. She's what we call a newborn, and her control around humans is very limited."

"You want to try that again in English?" the Chief growled, his eyes never leaving Bella's face. "And while you're at it, how about you explain to me how my daughter and your _son_ are still alive, and what the hell this cockamamie story is about you being a family of vampires?"

"Of course," Carlisle answered calmly. "But let's give Bella a chance to calm down first, as I'm sure she'd like to be included in the conversation. She wants to see you—she has all along—and she _doesn't_ want to hurt you, but this is asking a lot of a newborn, even one with as exceptional control as Bella has demonstrated."

From his thoughts I knew that Carlisle was addressing his words to Bella more than her father. I had my doubts about the wisdom of her remaining in proximity the chief, but Carlisle wanted it to be her choice, and he had confidence in her ability to master her bloodlust. I just hoped he was right.

"Bella, sweetheart?" I murmured, and her eyes shot back to my face. "Do you think you're going to be able to control your thirst? We only just hunted, so you don't actually _need_ the blood, remember? I know you want to talk to your father, but if it's too difficult for you, we'll put some space between the two of you, and you can talk to him over the phone…for now…until it doesn't hurt as much." My last words were directed toward the Chief who was about to object to my suggestion.

"What do you mean, _hurt_?" he asked, worriedly. "Who's hurting you, Bella?"

Bella closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing hard. Then clasping her hands over mine where I held her around the waist, and with a glance to Jasper, she opened her mouth and took a tentative breath. Her whole body shuddered, and I wanted to whisk her away from the source of her torment.

"We've got to get her away from here," I growled, but Bella patted my hands to hold me in place.

"It's all right," she whispered hoarsely, one hand rising to her throat. "I'm going to be all right…it just hurts so much."

"What hurts?" the Chief demanded again, trying to move closer only to be held in place by Carlisle's hand.

_How the hell are they so strong?_

I heard the thought clearly, slowly becoming more attuned to the way the chief's mind worked.

"It's all right…I can explain," Bella rasped, her voice like gravel. Then she looked to me, an appeal in her eyes, though Carlisle answered for me.

"Bella hasn't been exposed to the scent of human blood since becoming a vampire, and it is very _difficult_ for her to resist…painful even," Carlisle explained, and the Chief did a double take at his words, his eyes flashing to Bella's face as he catalogued her changed appearance.

"I don't know what Jacob's told you," Carlisle continued. "But my family and I don't feed from humans. We hunt and drink the blood of animals, which is what Bella has been doing to survive since she became one of us."

"Why are her eyes red?" Chief Swan asked, and Bella whimpered and turned to press her face against my chest. I resisted the urge to glare at her father for hurting her with his words, and focused on comforting Bella while Carlisle explained the reason for her red eyes and about the other changes she'd undergone: her speed, strength, virtual immortality and drastically changed diet.

I could hear from his thoughts that Bella's father didn't want to accept this new reality, but he'd seen too much this afternoon to deny it outright.

"Bella?" he called softly when Carlisle had finished. "It's all right, sweetheart. I'm here now. We'll get this straightened out, I promise, and then you can come home."

"Oh, Dad," Bella cried, and turned to face him. "It's not that simple. You can't fix this, but I'm so glad you're here…I'm so glad you know that I'm alive."

"Me, too, Bells, me, too," he murmured.

"You _can_ change her back, can't you?" He turned and challenged Carlisle. "She's not going to be stuck like this forever."

"I'm sorry." Carlisle spread his hands wide. "There's no way to reverse the transformation once it has occurred."

"Not that _you _know of. What about the authorities? Surely there are scientists researching this stuff who'd have some ideas."

The reaction to his words was predictable, and I flinched at the cacophony of outraged thoughts and comments that erupted. Even Jacob, who'd remained quiet until now and was seriously questioning the wisdom of his actions, leaped up and shouted his opinion. An image of Bella, strapped down on gurney and being experimented on formed in the chief's mind, and I shuddered, holding her closer.

"All right…all right…" Chief Swan backed up a step. "I get the message…no authorities. But one thing I want to know," he growled, looking directly at me, "is what the hell _he's_ doing with his arms around my daughter?"

_~OB~_

**_I'd love to hear what you thought of Charlie's arrival on the scene. Not sure if I'd want to be in Edward's shoes right now. ;)_**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	38. Control

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.  
><em>**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, and to all my wonderful readers and reviewers. Your support and kind words have meant so much to me this last week. Glad you're enjoying having Charlie on the scene, but wow…some of you guys really don't like Jacob very much, do you? _**

**_Just a reminder that I tweaked the Twiverse a little in this tale. Bella kept visiting Charlie every summer, so her relationship with her dad, Jacob and the others was already well established before she made the move to live in Forks permanently. Hope that helps make better sense of Jacob's reaction…though he was still a jerk to go to Charlie._**

**_Updated: Thursday, January 26th 2012 – A day early because it's Australia Day!  
>Words: 2445<em>**

Ch 38

Control

BPOV

The pain was excruciating.

The incredible scent—_of my father's blood!—_caused a burn in my throat unlike anything I'd experienced so far, triggering an overwhelming desire to hunt its source and…and…

I couldn't remember wanting anything so badly before in my entire life, but I was determined to resist, no matter how much it hurt.

"Daddy?" I whimpered, reaching toward him and using the name I hadn't called him since I was a little girl. Speaking exposed me to more of his unbelievable scent, and I clamped my hand over my nose and mouth.

A war raged inside me. If Edward hadn't been holding me and Jasper virtually saturating me with his talent in his efforts to bolster my self-control, I would have attacked my own father. The knowledge was devastating and brought home to me the inhumanity of my new vampire nature in a way I'd not yet faced.

Pain lanced through me at Charlie's query about my eyes, and I burrowed into Edward's chest while I fought for control. Vampires were good multi-taskers, Edward had said, and I'd experienced it already to some extent, learning to manage all the added input I received from my heightened senses. More recently, I'd used my shield to protect Edward from everyone's thoughts while we made love.

I could do this.

Calling on my new brain power and capabilities, I corralled the animalistic desires that were doing their best to overwhelm my human emotions and wishes.

I _would not_ hurt anyone, no matter how much the vampire side of me thirsted for human blood, now that I had smelled it for the first time and had an idea of how amazing it would taste.

_But that was irrelevant_, I told myself.

I would _never _taste human blood…_especially_ not my own father's.

While a part of me listened to the explanations that Carlisle was giving Charlie, the majority of my attention was focused on gaining control over my thirst. Little by little, I felt myself winning the battle, until I eventually had the raging, bloodthirsty beast inside of me figuratively cornered and penned. Confident that I could at least open my mouth to speak without losing it, I gripped Edward's arms tightly. Warning Jasper with my eyes not to back off with his support, I tried to reassure Charlie that I was okay. But when he told me he was going to fix everything so that he could take me home, my heart broke.

That was just like my dad…the fixer…the doer. My mom complained that when they were together he wasn't sensitive enough to her needs or able to communicate his feelings the way she'd wanted, but I'd always appreciated his practical nature. It was a lot like my own.

But then he asked why Edward was with me, and I wondered how on earth I was going to explain our relationship.

"Yeah, well…she thinks they're _married,_" Jake informed him with a sneer, and my self-control wavered, though it was Jake I tried to lunge at this time and not Charlie. I couldn't believe he'd betrayed me like this—my best friend—telling my dad about Edward's part in my becoming a vampire and no doubt painting everything in the worst possible light.

"Easy, Bella," Edward murmured close to my ear, and I turned in his arms to cling to him, absorbing the comfort and calm of his touch.

"Married?" Charlie exclaimed. "Bella…I've had about as much of this nonsense as I can take. Jacob said this boy _attacked_ you…that he's the reason you're a…a…"

"A vampire." I finished for him, looking up to see the anguish in his eyes and knowing that it matched my own expression. "He is," I admitted and felt Edward flinch. "But he's also the one who's been helping me to adjust and to stay…_sane_ through all of this. I _need_ him, Dad."

Charlie ran his hands through his hair, reminding me of Edward when he was frustrated. Then he took a step toward me, but the Cullens moved at vampire speed to block him, causing his eyes to widen and his heartbeat to accelerate…temptingly.

"Edward?" I whispered, gripping his arms so tightly I felt the bones move beneath my fingers.

"It's all right, sweetheart. Just hold your breath when it gets too much for you. You're doing incredibly well."

"Let's take this inside where we can sit down," Carlisle suggested, and I imagined he must be worried about Charlie's health with all the shocks he'd received.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Edward asked. "Bella's father's scent will be more concentrated inside the house."

"How about we all go and take a seat on the back patio?" Esme offered. "I'll put the kettle on. Would you like a coffee, Charlie? I could cook up some breakfast for you if you like."

His eyes shot to her face, and I could only imagine what had to be going through his mind. How bizarre it must seem to be having breakfast offered to him by a friend that he's just discovered was actually a vampire, after seeing another friend's son morph into a giant wolf before his eyes…and all before seven in the morning.

"Coffee would be good, thanks, Esme," he replied, and then he looked in my direction.

"I don't really understand what's going on, Bells, but I don't want to make this any harder on you than it already is. Are you going to be okay if we sit near each other while we talk?"

Nodding, I tentatively smiled my reassurance. "Yeah…I think I've got it now. But Edward will have to stay close to me, so I don't lose control."

"If you say so," he grumbled, shooting an angry glare in Edward's direction before turning and walking with Carlisle and Esme up to the house.

As soon as he was out of earshot, I turned on Jacob who'd stayed behind.

"How could you?" I hissed, tugging myself free from Edward's and Jasper's hold with alarming ease, making me realize how much I'd been working _with _them beforehand. "I thought you were my _friend_. You could have given my dad a heart attack, phasing in front of him…and I could have _killed _him!"

"Hey! How was I supposed to know you'd go all _feral_ over your dad's smell? You were fine with Harry."

"You should have asked first!" I shouted, holding back from poking or hitting him as, with the mood I was in, I was fairly certain I'd break his bones_. _"Do you know how much danger you've put Charlie in? If the Volturi find out that he knows about vampires, they'll _kill _him, Jake!"

"Whoa…what's a volturi and why haven't we been told about them?"

Sam, Leah and a couple of others arrived just in time to hear Jacob's question and to see Carlisle and Esme taking a seat with Charlie up near the house.

"Jacob, what have you done?" Sam demanded.

"What _needed _to be done," Jake retorted. "It sounds like the bloodsuckers have been holding out on us…in even _more _ways."

"Use that term one more time, Jacob Black, and I won't be responsible for what happens," I growled at him, and he looked at me in alarm.

"You know I don't mean _you,_ Bella!"

"Well I'm one of them now, so show some respect. Edward helped me to save your life yesterday as well as everyone else's, and Carlisle's taking care of Seth. You're the one who went to Charlie without asking if that was what I wanted…or if it was _safe!"_

I was so angry I could spit. No matter how glad I was to see Charlie, I didn't want him in danger…from me or anyone else.

"Hey! Who's watching Seth?" Leah suddenly demanded, looking around to see that we were all present on the back lawn.

"It's okay," Edward called as she started to run toward the house. "He's sleeping…I can hear his thoughts…he's not in pain."

"Thanks," she replied over her shoulder and kept going.

"How's your dad?" I called, sprinting to catch up with her, Edward, Jasper, and everyone else hot on my heels.

"Harry? What's wrong with Harry?" Charlie asked, having heard my query.

Close enough to his scent to be bothered by it again, I came to a sudden stop, relieved to feel Edward's arms encircle me even if Charlie didn't look very impressed by the move.

"Harry came to the house last night to check on Seth, who I accidentally crushed when he was in wolf form as he was trying to stop me from saving Edward from the other wolves who were trying to tear him apart, and he had a heart attack when he saw me," I explained in a rush.

Emmett snickered, and I glared at him. This wasn't funny, and I probably shouldn't have blurted it all out l like that. Charlie was looking decidedly pale.

"You okay, Dad?" I asked, dragging Edward a few steps closer. "It's all right," I told him and Jasper when they moved to block me. "I'm not going to hurt him, I promise. I won't get _too _close."

"As long as you're sure," Edward murmured, and I smiled up at him before returning my attention to Charlie who was watching us with a bewildered expression on his face.

"I'm fine, Bella. Don't worry about me...I'm just glad you're still alive. But what's this about you crushing Seth?"

"Accidentally," I repeated, cringing.

Esme arrived with Charlie's coffee and a tray filled with pastries and muffins that Alice must have bought on a _hunch._ While Charlie slowly sipped his drink and the Quileutes worked their way through a mountain of food, the rest of the story unfolded. Charlie asked the occasional question, his eyes rarely leaving my face, but he mostly listened…taking it all in.

I wasn't all that surprised when he asked for a repeat demonstration of the wolf-phasing thing, as I could imagine it would take more than one viewing of something so fantastical for him to believe even his own eyes. Not having seen any of the Quileutes phase before, I was equally astonished when Quil and Embry did so after being ordered by Sam to demonstrate for Charlie and then continue on with their patrol. They sacrificed their shorts so that we could see them phase without having to undress first, but Sam assured us that they had spare pairs hidden in various locations throughout the forest.

"You've seen how fast we can move," Carlisle spoke into the silence that followed the boys' howling departure into the trees. "Is there anything else you'd like us to show you?"

Charlie looked to where I'd taken a seat a little distance away, wrapped in Edward's arms and with Jasper and Emmett sitting to either side. I didn't dare move any closer, though the longer I stayed within range of my father's human scent, the easier it was to bear.

"They say you're the strongest, Bella, because you're one of these _newborns_. Is it true?"

Deciding that the best way to answer was also by demonstration, I stood, and with the three boys by my side, walked over to where Esme had placed several enormous decorative stone urns on the edge of the patio. They were almost as tall as me and would have been impossible for me to budge even an inch if I'd been human, but I grabbed the rim of one of them and lifted the urn high up in the air…easily.

"Well, I'll be damned," Charlie muttered, shaking his head, and even Jacob looked impressed. He'd been quiet for a while, finally seeming to realize how incredibly upset I was with him. I still couldn't believe the risk he'd taken with Charlie's life, acting impulsively out of anger and spite, and I had a feeling it was going to be a while before I could forgive him.

He wasn't happy about seeing how close I sat with Edward—not that I cared what he thought after the way he'd acted. We'd yet to address that issue with Charlie, and I wanted to be the one to try and explain before Jake could do any more damage.

With that in mind, I took a deep, fortifying breath…and regretted it immediately when Charlie's scent assaulted my senses, the fire in my throat roaring painfully to life. Jasper stirred beside me, no doubt sensing my increased thirst, and I burrowed into Edward's chest. It was a few moments before I regained enough control to broach the subject.

"Dad there's some other stuff about vampires that you need to know…stuff that affects me and Edward," I told him, my voice sounding a little hoarse.

"I'm listening," he grumbled, leaning forward in his seat. Despite the fact that neither he nor I were overly demonstrative, I could tell that he was aching to give me a hug. I couldn't take the risk of getting that close or accidentally crushing him if I did try to hug him, but I knew exactly how he felt.

Deciding to try a slightly roundabout approach, I enlisted Jacob's unwilling help and asked him to explain about wolf imprinting. The way Jake glared at me told me he knew what I was doing, but he owed me, so I didn't back down.

"Is that what happened between you, Leah, and Emily?" Charlie addressed his question to Sam when Jacob had finished his explanation. Sam nodded soberly and told their story.

I felt so sad for Leah, hearing how she and Sam had been in love until he'd met her cousin and imprinted on her, changing all their lives forever. He also told us about how Emily had received her terrible injuries. I didn't know Sam's fiancé, not having met her as she'd arrived since my last visit to Forks. But the situation sounded painful for all involved, and I was glad that Leah wasn't present for the retelling, though she'd no doubt have heard every word from inside the house with her enhanced hearing.

"I'm guessing you wanted me to hear that for a reason," Charlie addressed me when Sam had finished, intuitive as ever. "You going to try and tell me that vampires have something similar, and that's why you're letting the boy who _attacked_ _and almost killed you_ sit so damned close?"

Gulping, I nodded, feeling Edward move restlessly in the seat beside me.

"Edward's my _mate_, Dad. I can't live without him."

_~OB~_

**_Yep…kind of half a chapter, but with so much going on now in the story (after I dragged out the 'getting to know you' chapters forever), I decided to split it into two. I'll have the second half up on Monday._**

**_Any guesses as to how well Charlie's going to take Bella's declaration?_**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_PS: Thanks to Virginia May for giving Once Bitten it's 1900th review._**


	39. Bittersweet

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I have a vamp story that's about to reach 2000 reviews, and an AU Period Fic that looks like it'll hit 5000 pretty soon. Wow…never expected that._**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, and my prereader, Content 1, for sticking with me through thick and thin._**

**_Sorry (again) for not managing to reply to many reviews after last chapter. I hurt my arm yesterday at the beach (got clobbered by a fiberglass surfboard, and I have a bright blue upper arm that aches like the blue blazes and a numb hand…when it's not tingling with little electrical shocks.) LOL! Last time I went body boarding a month ago, I got dumped over a sandbank and received a concussion. I think I'm getting too old for this. _**

**_Anyway…my one handed typing received quite a work out getting the next chapter of OB off to my betas, but I flagged when it came to replying to all the reviews. Thanks for leaving them, though. They're a joy to read and a great inspiration._**

**_Updated: Sunday, January 29, 2012  
>Words: 2576<em>**

_~OB~_

"I'm guessing you wanted me to hear that for a reason, Bells," Charlie addressed me when Sam had finished, intuitive as ever. "You going to try and tell me that vampires have something similar, and that's why you're letting the boy who _attacked_ _and almost killed you_ sit so damned close?"

Gulping, I nodded, feeling Edward move restlessly in the seat beside me.

"Edward's my _mate_, Dad. I can't live without him."

_~OB~_

Ch 39

Bittersweet

BPOV

Jacob snorted, and I shot him a glare…I wasn't finished with him yet. Hearing Sam and Leah's story had brought it home to me what a jerk Jacob was being. He was angry with me for being with Edward, but he must have known that if I had agreed to go out with him—assuming I hadn't been turned into a vampire, of course—he could have dumped me at any time when "the one" came along.

"You're not normally the melodramatic type, Bells," Charlie commented dryly. "Or is that a vampire thing, too?"

"I'm not being melodramatic, Dad. It's just a fact. Edward and I are…_bonded…_for want of a better word. We can't be apart for very long without ending up in pain."

"I know what I did was wrong, sir," Edward interjected. "And I will spend the rest of my days doing whatever I can to make it up to your daughter. I love her, and I won't let her down again."

Charlie eyed him for a long moment before speaking, and Edward moved restlessly in the seat beside me.

"It's kind of convenient for you though, isn't it?" Charlie clearly wasn't planning on letting Edward off the hook anytime soon, and I sighed. "Did you decide before or after you bit my daughter and infected her with your venom that she was the one you wanted?"

"Dad," I grumbled, but Edward squeezed my hand.

"Before," Edward admitted. "I should have run the minute I realized I was attracted to her, as there is no way we could have been together while she was human, but I…_didn't." _He hung his head for a moment before lifting his eyes to meet my father's extremely censorious gaze. "I had no intention of biting her…of turning her into one of us. I just wanted to spend a few more minutes in her company, after which I imagined I would have to leave and never see her again."

"Pity you didn't follow through," Jake muttered, and I threw a cushion off the patio chair at his head, hitting him so hard he somersaulted over backwards and landed up against the wall of the house.

"Bella, that's enough," Charlie scolded, and I had to resist the urge to whine that Jake had started it. Emmett snickered again, and I glared at him. The situation was so surreal that I was worried if I started laughing I wouldn't be able to stop, and I didn't think my having a bout of hysterics would go over well with Charlie just then.

"So what happened? Why did you attack Bella in the middle of class when you guys keep going on about how much control you have and how you respect human life?"

It was a fair question and took a while to answer, with Edward doing most of the talking as he explained about my being his singer and Carlisle adding in a few explanatory comments along the way. Charlie was scathing in his criticism, not about to forget the anguish the Cullens had put him, Renee, and so many of our friends through. Not to mention all the injuries that had been inflicted on the teachers and students during the cover-up explosions and the inconvenience to the school and students…all caused by Edward's impulsive, bloodthirsty actions.

Hearing it put that way, I didn't feel so bad about my initial anger and reactions.

"It seems like you took a mighty big risk all these years, and my daughter paid the price." Charlie's words, so similar to my own accusation and aimed at all the Cullens, were met with a somber silence.

"They did, Dad, and they know it," I responded when no one else did, knowing there wasn't anything they could say in their defense that wouldn't seem shallow or self-serving. "I can only imagine how awful it's been for you and Mom," I added tentatively, not wanting to seem like I was minimizing what they'd all been put through—and as far as my mom was concerned, was still going through—but wanting to reassure Charlie that I was okay. "I was pretty upset at first, and very angry that I couldn't tell you that I was still alive. But it's not all bad. A choice would have been nice, but I'm getting used to being a vampire. Some parts of it are actually pretty cool."

"I can see that," Charlie nodded, a rueful smile lifting the corner of his mustache and causing relief to flood through me. "Can't say as I ever expected to have my own daughter turn into some sort of superwoman. But those eyes, Bella…" His smiled faded, as did mine.

"They'll turn golden eventually," I murmured. "But they'll never be brown like yours or Mom's again. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," he answered gruffly, cutting to the heart of the matter.

"How is Mom?" I asked the question that I'd been dreading hearing the answer to, and he shrugged, not quite meeting my eyes.

"The cats out of the bag, Bella, with half the damn res knowing you're alive. Why don't you just tell her?" Jacob suggested, his words triggering a storm of protest from the Cullens about what the Volturi would do if they found out the secret had been told, though I could tell that, this time, his intentions were sincere.

When the noise died down, Sam spoke up. "I think we need to know about these Volturi, Carlisle…agreed?"

"Yes, you're right." Carlisle nodded, and another bout of explanations ensued.

I let the others do the talking and rested against Edward while he stroked my arms soothingly. Vampires might not get _physically_ tired, but the last twenty four hours had been pretty intense, and I was feeling a little overwhelmed. I still couldn't believe that Charlie was here, sitting across from me. Though, of course, my vampire senses weren't about to let me forget, and I fought the urge to clutch at my throat, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that a part of me was thirsting for my dad's blood.

"I hate to say this, but it seems to me that the safest thing is to keep Renee in the dark…for _now,_" Charlie concluded.

"She can't _ever_ know," Carlisle contradicted, going over the risks again and reiterating that if we let Renee know I was alive and if Aro were to come into contact with any one of us, then _he _would know also, and her life and probably Phil's would be forfeit.

"Between us all, we can keep you safe, Charlie," Carlisle promised and Sam added his agreement. "But Renee lives too far away for us to protect her and her husband."

No one suggested that Renee and Phil move to Forks to live, though the thought crossed my mind. They'd probably have to move to the reservation to be truly safe, and I couldn't see either of them agreeing to that…but it didn't mean I was giving up on finding a way to let my mom know I was okay. Now that Charlie knew, the thought of Renee grieving my death seemed even more unbearable.

I'd never met any of these Volturi, and despite Carlisle insisting that they served an important purpose maintaining control in the vampire world, I _hated _them with a passion for keeping me apart from my mother.

Sighing, I snuggled against Edward who leaned down to kiss the top of my head, holding me close. Glancing up I saw Charlie watching us, and I knew there were more issues to discuss. He looked around, his expression uncomfortable, and I got the impression he would have preferred less of an audience before we continued.

"Any possibility I could have a little time alone with my daughter?" he asked, confirming my thoughts.

"Not completely alone, Dad. But I should be all right with just Edward and Jasper. Would that be okay?" I suggested, and he shrugged his agreement.

"I'll go check on Seth and then head back to be with Harry," Sam said, standing and stretching. Carlisle had already assured us that Harry was doing better than expected. Having a heart attack on a doctor's doorstep had actually been a _good _thing, and to my surprise, I was being credited with most likely saving his life.

"Give Harry my regards…and Sue," Charlie requested. "I'll be by to check on him later on, after…" he seemed to falter, but Sam nodded and patted his arm.

Jacob turned to leave with Sam and the others, his parting look toward me uncertain.

Tempted to snub him, I remembered how upset he'd been when he'd thought I was gone forever, and I relented.

"I'll talk to you later, Jacob," I offered only a little reluctantly, and he sighed with relief.

"Sure, sure," he murmured. "Sorry, Bells. I guess I went a little nuts with everything...Didn't think it all through when I went to tell your dad."

"No…you didn't," Sam growled. "But we'll talk about _that _later."

"Yeah…whatever," Jake muttered, following after Sam with a hangdog expression on his face.

When everyone else had left us alone, I took the risk of inching the chair that Edward and I were sitting on a little closer to Charlie's.

"How about I just stand over here?" Jasper offered, moving a few yards away, and I smiled at him gratefully.

He'd still hear every word—as would all the other vampires and wolves on the property—but the distance would give us a semblance of privacy while still ensuring that Jasper could easily monitor my mood and intervene if I needed help. While my throat still burned, I was actually doing reasonably okay; the monster I'd contained had pretty much given up, _for now_, and was sitting sulking in a corner of my mind.

"That ring you're wearing, Bells. I'm assuming that's got something to do with you two thinking you're married?" Charlie asked, and I gulped, even though I'd been expecting the question.

"It was my mother's ring," Edward explained. "My _real _mother. I gave it to Bella yesterday when I proposed."

Charlie's eyebrows shot up and he sat forward in his chair. "So…we're just talking an engagement, then."

"We got married straight after the engagement," I admitted, and then rushed to explain. "We know it's not legal—being a _vampire _isn't exactly legal—but I didn't want a big wedding since you and Mom couldn't be there, so Edward and I decided to say our own vows before God out in this lovely meadow, and now we're married." I finished in a rush again.

Just blurting things out had worked reasonably well earlier, a bit like pulling a Band-Aid off in one go, so I went with that tactic again. But Charlie didn't look very impressed.

"And I'm assuming this marriage has been consummated already?" he asked determinedly while looking as horribly uncomfortable as I felt.

"Yes, sir, it has," Edward answered bravely. All I could think was that it was a good thing my new husband was bulletproof.

"I see," Charlie muttered and then sat back quietly for a moment.

Long minutes passed while Charlie glared at Edward, and he sat unmoving beside me…except for an occasional wince. Then Edward's lips curved in a soft smile, and he pulled me closer to his side…my first indication that things weren't going to go as badly as I imagined.

"I know you say you two have to be together…that you don't have a choice…but do you love him, Bells?" he asked me, and I nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, yes. I really do," I practically gushed.

"Even after what he did to you? You can forgive him for that?"

My smile faded, and I squeezed Edward's hand, as he'd gone very still beside me once again.

"I already have, Dad. I don't really understand the temptation he was faced with as I've never encountered a singer, but I know how incredibly intense the thirst for blood can be…I'm faced with it every day. I hadn't smelled a human's blood since becoming a vampire before today, but now that I have…" I broke off, swallowing hard against the saliva that had begun to pool in my mouth and forcing down the burn that flared in my throat. It took me a minute to regain control, and I could tell that Charlie was watching me closely the entire time. When I was able to speak without snarling, I continued.

"All I know is that without Edward's and Jasper's help earlier, I would have attacked _you…_my _own dad_," I whimpered, and Edward crooned his reassurance while Charlie's eyes widened. "Edward is really very sorry, and it's hard to be unforgiving when I understand how easily it could happen," I finished with a despondent shrug.

Charlie stared at me unblinking for a while after my admission, and I wondered if I'd done the right thing being so honest with him. The thought of him thinking badly of me…of his being ashamed of me…was unbearable.

Sighing, he straightened in his chair, and I waited, unmoving, my non-beating heart wedged firmly in my throat.

"I'd like to give you a hug, but that doesn't seem like an option at the moment. So…I'll just have to use words, though you know that isn't exactly a strong suit of mine," he began, and I nodded warily.

"I love you, Bella, and I can't tell you how happy I am to know that you're alive…even if that life isn't anything like what I'd hoped or expected for you. I just want you to be happy, and if you need Edward for that to be possible…well, I guess you have my blessing."

His last words were spoken a little reluctantly, but they meant the world to me, and my whole body ached to be able to give him that hug.

_One day,_ I thought with determination.

"Dad, thank you so much," I sobbed, my throat almost closing when I saw the tears in his eyes. "I love you, too. Always."

Nodding, he quickly wiped his eyes and then turned a little to address Edward who sat up very straight.

"But you listen to me, son," he ordered sternly. "You might be an invincible vampire, but if you ever hurt my little girl again, I will personally find a way to hunt you down and destroy you. Have I made myself clear?"

"Perfectly, sir," Edward replied, swallowing hard. "I won't let you down…either of you…I promise."

"Good." Charlie sat nodding for a moment before releasing a big sigh. "I can't quite believe I'm saying this," he grumbled, and I wondered what was coming next. "But since I suppose you're technically my son-in-law, you better call me Charlie."

I smiled, but it was a bittersweet moment without my mom being present, though I had a good idea how she would have reacted to hearing that I was _married _at the age of seventeen…and it wouldn't have been pretty.

_~OB~_

**_I have to admit to having a soft spot for Charlie. Any ideas as to what he was thinking to make Edward wince? I had soooo much fun writing that part, and can't wait to share it._**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	40. Torture

**_Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. I just love playing with her awesome characters. :) _**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe cougar and Squeaky Zorro for all their support. _**

**_Sorry I'm not managing many replies to your wonderful reviews at the moment, but I went and fractured my arm. One handed typing sucks, so I'm using my limited time and energy to keep writing both my stories.  
><em>**

**_Thank you to anncarol for posting Once Bitten's 2000th review! Yay! What a cool milestone. I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to review as you've followed along with my Tweaked Twilight Tale…It is much appreciated. :D_**

**_Updated: Thursday, February 2nd, 2012  
>Words: 2151<em>**

Chapter 40

Torture

EPOV

As the morning progressed, it became a little easier for me to read Bella's father…not that it was a comfortable experience. The man was being exceptionally reasonable, considering the outlandish circumstances and the fact that his world view had just been tipped on its head. My admiration for him was increasing in leaps and bounds—his quiet intelligence and dry wit so similar to his daughter's—but there was a lot for him to comprehend. Surprisingly, or maybe not so, one of the more difficult aspects for him to come to terms with was the knowledge that his seventeen-year-old daughter—_his little girl _—was having sex…with me.

He may have said that I could call him Charlie and that he understood about Bella's and my need to be together. But every time his mind tortured him with a brief, flickering and thankfully vague image of Bella and me _together_, together, his very next thought was of finding some way to eviscerate me with a blunt fishing knife…or seeing me staked out, covered in honey and attacked by fire ants…or a good old-fashioned hanging from the neck until I was well and truly dead. Of course, none of those methods of punishment would have been effective in doing me any harm. But when he imagined having the wolves dismember and decapitate me—brutally—before slowly roasting the pieces of my body on the end of long sticks like marshmallows over a fire, I squirmed a little in my seat.

"Edward?" Bella murmured beside me, snuggling impossibly closer and sending delicious tingles humming along my ultrasensitive nerves. I was hyperaware of every single place where her barely clothed body pressed to mine—Alice's selection for Bella having been another pair of short shorts and a skimpy tank top with spaghetti straps—and wished that Alice's choice for me had been looser shorts…_much _looser shorts.

"Shhh…it's fine," I lied, whispering subvocally, and reluctantly easing her away from me a fraction. The only way she could get closer was if she were to straddle my lap, and I could guarantee that would cause Charlie's thoughts to swiftly turn to action…a situation that I couldn't allow since he might get hurt if he tried to attack me. _And_ he'd have to come closer to Bella, which was not a good idea. She was handling his proximity incredibly well for a newborn. But if there was one thing I knew about vampires, it was that bloodlust could turn to lust-lust in an instant—and vice versa—and right now, Bella and I were losing the battle with lust-lust.

Shooting Jasper a desperate look, I couldn't help thinking that it was quite incredible how many times, of late, I'd wished for the ability to project telepathically. Fortunately, the use of a gift that I didn't have wasn't required, as Jazz was more than astute enough to catch my nonverbal signal.

_Yeah, I'm on it, _he responded mentally. _But it's not working. I'm saturating the both of you with all the anti-lust juice I can muster, but it's like spitting at a damned fire. You're newly mated, newly married, and one of you is a newborn. What the hell do you expect me to do?_

Surprised a little by Jasper's uncharacteristically terse response, I swallowed hard, my eyes darting around with increasing desperation. Bella had begun trailing her fingers up and down my thigh in teasing, tantalizing curlicues, her actions not escaping her father's notice. The man was nothing if not observant…and quite imaginative when it came to thinking up ways to dismember, disembowel, and desex the man who had only very recently deflowered his precious daughter.

Clamping my hand down over Bella's fingers—it wasn't difficult for me to see where she came by her ability as a torturer worthy of the Spanish Inquisition—I leaned forward in the chair, bringing my other arm to rest across my knees in front of me in the hope of hiding the evidence of my own loss of control from her father.

"Guess it's time for me to get going," Charlie announced soon after, to my intense relief. "But I can't say it feels right to just leave you here, Bells," he added, and it was my turn to squeeze Bella's hand so hard that she winced.

Easing the death grip I had on her fingers, she flashed me a reassuring smile before answering her dad. "I know…it feels weird for me, too, now that you know I'm alive," she offered, her tone placating. "But you do understand why I can't come with you?"

"Yeah, I understand," Charlie acknowledged with a long-suffering sigh. "Don't have to like it, though," he grumbled, shooting me a look that would have reduced a lesser man to dust. "Do you think you're going to get this…this…_instinct_ thing under control eventually? Then maybe you couldcome home to stay…you _and _Edward…if you still need him, that is."

Ducking my head to hide my smirk, I silently gave thanks for one aspect of vampirism that I had complete confidence in…our essential unchangeableness. Considering the strength of our bond, it would take a _lot_ for me to offend Bella to the degree where she would banish me even temporarily. And considering I had absolutely no intention of upsetting my beautiful new bride to that or any degree_—_and that I was completely committed to being everything she could ever need or want, every moment of every day…_forever—_I couldn't conceive of her not wanting me around.

"Thanks, Dad," Bella murmured just loud enough for him to hear while gratifyingly edging a little closer to my side. "Carlisle says it takes about a year for a new vampire to gain enough control to be around, er…_people_ without too much risk."

"A year?" Charlie sat back, stunned.

"Bella has extraordinary control for a newborn, so it might not take that long," Jasper elaborated, capturing Charlie's attention. "It wouldn't normally be possible for such a young vampire to be around a human like she has been today without…well," Jasper's words trailed off, and he shrugged, uncharacteristically hesitant.

"Yeah, I get the picture," Charlie muttered, shaking his head. "But Bella's not like that," he contradicted. "She'd never hurt anyone…ever."

An uncomfortable silence followed his words, and I could feel Bella tense beside me.

"I wouldn't _want_ to, Dad," she acknowledged, her tone remorseful. "But that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. I'm not the same person that I used to be…well, not completely. I'm still _me, _but there's this other side to me now that isn't easy to control."

"Well…I don't want to make it any more difficult for you than it already is," Charlie insisted, reiterating what he'd said earlier. "But I can come back and visit you…can't I?"

"Of course!" Bella half-rose from the chair, Jasper, Emmett and I moving with her. She glanced at us, puzzled, and then sat back beside me, sighing disconsolately.

"You're welcome in our home anytime, Charlie. Why not come over for dinner tonight?" Esme suggested.

"I'll make all your favorites," Bella offered, visibly perking up. "Lasagna, apple pie…anything you want."

"But I thought you can't eat now…well, not _food_?" Charlie frowned, looking uncomfortable. "I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble."

"Who do you think has been cooking all those meals Esme's been dropping around?" she demanded, laughing delightfully, and I relaxed against her side. My beautiful new bride really was amazing and handling a phenomenally difficult situation incredibly well.

"Well, I'll be," Charlie muttered, shaking his head. "Some detective I am."

"I tweaked the recipes a little, so you wouldn't be suspicious," Bella explained, biting her lip uncertainly, and Charlie nodded.

"I guess I'll be back tonight, then," he agreed, smiling to reassure her. "And that lasagna you're planning…you can go ahead and add the mushrooms like you did to the one Esme brought over. I think that's my _new _favorite."

_~OB~_

Bella and I held it together until Charlie had made his farewells…just. But as soon as his car turned onto the highway, she crawled onto my lap and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. Crooning softly, I rocked her against me, overwhelmed by a myriad of emotions…the lust, of course, that we'd both been fighting to contain for the last hour, but also intense relief that we'd survived everything that the previous night and day had thrown at us, along with a bittersweet joy over Bella being reunited with her father.

"My dad…Charlie…he knows I'm alive," she sobbed against my neck, and I cuddled her close.

"I know, baby, I know," I murmured, stroking her back with long, soothing caresses.

"And he's going to come visit me…and he knows we're married…and he didn't try to shoot you…and he said you can call him Charlie…and he likes my lasagna with mushrooms…" She practically hiccuped, which was an unusual occurrence for a vampire.

"I know, I know," I chuckled hoarsely, my own throat tightening, and I decided _not _to tell her about the bizarrely brutal things her father had imagined doing to me.

The rest of the family stood around us, looking on, their thoughts and expressions revealing their own tumultuous emotions. We'd _all_ been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours—a surprise wedding, an attack, multiple near deaths…mine included—and the stresses had taken their toll. I still couldn't believe that Bella's idiot friend had told her father about us…though considering how happy she was to have Charlie back in her life, I figured I may just have to thank him…but later. Right now, we all needed time to reconnect with our mates, and Bella and I had a honeymoon to begin.

Hugging my wife tightly in my arms, I stood and faced my family.

"Thank you all so much for all your help with…everything," I told them with feeling. "We couldn't have gotten through it all without you."

"You're very welcome," Carlisle responded, his words confirmed by the others' thoughts. "We can't tell you how happy we are for you both, and we'd like to officially welcome you to the family, Bella."

"Hear, hear," Emmett added with the others chiming in their best wishes and words of welcome.

"Thank you so much," Bella replied, smiling shyly from her place still nestled in my arms. "It means a lot to me, but I have to admit, I'm really happy that my dad knows I'm alive. It seems like I'm going to be able to see him often…with all your help, of course."

"It's our pleasure," Rose answered for us all. "You're the first of us who will be able to keep in contact with a family member after your change, and it means a lot to us to see you and your father together."

"Just don't eat him," Emmett added dryly, and we all chuckled while Bella pulled a face.

"Well…" I murmured, taking a step toward the house. "As great as this has been…"

I was sure they'd take the hint and excuse us, as they _had _to know how we were feeling…considering we were newlyweds. But I was met with a surprising wall of resistance together with inconveniently and _deliberately_ blocked thought processes.

"Before you two disappear on us, there is a lot we need to discuss," Jasper intoned, using what I thought of as his command voice.

"Oh, yes. I'd say it's definitely family meeting time," Esme added, and I stifled a groan.

"I foresee this meeting taking _hours and hours and hours_," Alice chimed sweetly, and Bella whimpered, hiding her face against my shoulder. I tucked her closer to my body, wanting to reassure her, but then I caught the hint of a mental chuckle and realized we were being had.

"You guys," I grumbled, heading purposefully toward the back door. It was pretty mild teasing, as far as my family went, but the timing was way off. I needed to be alone with Bella…_now._

"Oh yeah…that's right," Emmett catcalled. "You two have a basement to christen!"

"We certainly do." I grinned over my shoulder in response, and Bella groaned with embarrassment.

"And a whole heap of new moves to try out," Alice added, flashing me a montage of mental images showing some of the things Bella and I would be getting up to in the coming hours, causing my step to falter.

"Alice," I groaned, chagrined and even more aroused, if that were possible.

"What do you mean 'new moves,'" Emmett demanded. "Edward was a virgin twenty-four hours ago. He doesn't _have_ any moves!"

"Oh, yes, he does," Bella surprised everyone by calling over my shoulder as we entered the house. "Really…really…awesome moves."

"What? Hey!" Emmett grumbled crossly, his joke having backfired. "Well, so do I…don't I, Rose? I have awesome moves…and a whole lot more experience," he shouted after us.

"Whatever…" Bella tossed back snuggling close against me, and everyone laughed…even Emmett.

_~OB~_

**_Poor Edward, mentally *** by Tanya, mentally tortured by Charlie. There are some definite downsides to being a mindreader, I'm thinking!_**

**_I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for some warm, fuzzy time. I'm sure there's plenty of angst ahead for our no-longer-virginal but very loved-up vamps…but a bit of sweetness for a while would be nice._**

**_Only a short chapter, but I've got the next one written and beta'ed so I'll post it Sunday. :D_**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	41. Anything

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I own two stories that have taken over my life. LOL! :D_**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, and my prereader, Content1, for their wonderful support. And thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers for staying with me. _**

**_A blessedly short AN for a change with no major dramas to report. Yay!_**

**_Updated: Sunday, February 5th 2012  
>Words: 2982<em>**

OB Ch 41

Anything

EPOV

"You feeling okay, sweetheart?" I whispered into the soft shell of Bella's ear when we reached our basement room, fairly certain by the way she was snuggling into me that she was feeling the same resurgence of desire that I was. Not that her father's return to her life wasn't incredibly important…but so was celebrating the love and passion we felt for each other and were finally free to share in _every _way.

"More than okay, baby," she murmured and reached to brush her lips softly along my jaw on a tender, teasing, tantalizing path to my mouth.

"About your dad," I breathed against her kiss, not wanting her to think I didn't recognize the momentous importance of her being reunited with the father she'd not expected to ever see again.

"Shhhh…" She silenced me with a finger to my lips. "Do you think we could _not _talk about Charlie just now?"

Smiling, I nodded and then captured her finger with my gently snapping teeth.

"Your wish is my command," I mumbled around her finger before suckling it into my mouth, marveling at the way that every single part of her tasted so incredibly perfect.

"Truly?" she queried, arching an elegant eyebrow and removing her finger from my mouth to brush it softly over my lower lip.

"Truly," I breathed, willing, able and determined to give her _anything_ she wanted.

"Then make love to me, Edward," she whispered. "I know it hasn't been that long, but it feels like forever since we were alone, and I want you so badly."

"I feel exactly the same way," I all but groaned, kicking the door closed behind us and reaching to turn on the fairy lights that twinkled around the ceiling. "And I would absolutely _love _to make love to my beautiful wife…all day long if she'll let me."

"Oh…I think she's willing," Bella giggled, and proceeded to show me just _how _willing she could be.

We didn't make it to the bed, which was probably a good thing considering the frenzy of passion her words unleashed. The flimsy structure wouldn't have lasted five seconds.

It was Bella's turn to tear the clothes from our bodies, which she accomplished between one open-mouthed kiss and the next.

"Ahhh…" I groaned at the sublime feel of her silky skin connecting with mine unimpeded, as she wrapped her legs around my waist. "You feel so good, baby," I murmured, and she moaned in complete harmony with my assessment.

"Not slow…not gentle the first time," she gasped, and my hands and mouth and tongue willingly complied with her request.

"Anything you want…anything at all," I breathed, taking us both down to the floor, thrilled beyond measure that my beautiful, sexy girl felt comfortable enough with me already to tell me what she wanted. Despite the way our desire was escalating rapidly out of control, it hadn't escaped my notice that she'd said "the first time."

More and more, I was coming to thoroughly appreciate certain aspects of being a vampire. The others were right. Having a mate made _all _the difference.

Bella and I had made love six times since we'd married the afternoon before. Twice in the meadow, three times in the shower (if we were counting orgasms), and then once out hunting. But six or sixty times made no difference to my stamina or capabilities, and I couldn't help grinning at the thought of the untold pleasure I could and would bring to my lovely new bride in the hours between now and when her father arrived for dinner.

On this first day of our honeymoon, there was _nothing_ else I'd rather do…and nothing was more important.

"We'll have to stop a couple of hours before Charlie's due to arrive, so that I can cook his dinner," Bella murmured hoarsely, and I lifted my mouth from her breast though my hands remained extremely busy.

Had I spoken out loud? My brows shot up, as I wondered, not for the first time, if Bella's talents didn't extend to mind reading.

Smiling, she smoothed my forehead. "Just thinking the same thing," she explained. "Everything else can wait, but I've got to take care of my dad."

"Absolutely," I agreed. Keeping Charlie happy—or relatively so, considering the circumstances—was a high priority. As for the "everything else," a part of my multi-tasking brain was keeping track of the conversations occurring upstairs, so I knew the family was already putting their considerable mental resources to the task of resolving the numerous problems and situations with which we were faced.

The treaty had been broken, spectacularly and on both sides, and would need to be discussed and renegotiated.

Decisions would need to be made regarding the immediate and longer-term future now that Charlie knew about us. We couldn't remain in Forks indefinitely, but keeping Bella's father safe and in regular contact with his daughter would need to be incorporated into our planning.

The nomads were becoming a significant issue…one we couldn't ignore any longer, especially considering Charlie's involvement and our need to protect him. I could only imagine his reaction when he discovered the serial killer he was tracking was actually an unholy threesome of our kind.

Then there was the ongoing potential threat from the Volturi…one to be avoided at all costs now that the laws had been broken and an incredibly precious human knew of their existence.

Added to that was the unexpectedly awesome firepower of Bella's shield. It could make all the difference in a confrontation with the Volturi—if she was sufficiently trained to be able to control it—while also making her acquisition into their ranks their highest priority. Avoiding a confrontation altogether seemed the safest option, and I found myself readily agreeing with Jasper's reasoning and the conclusions he'd reached.

Until the world went silent, all except for the sound of Bella's and my rapid breathing and the smooth slide of skin on skin.

"Baby?" I looked up from my place between her thighs, her delicious taste tingling on my tongue.

"I want _all _of your concentration, with no outside distractions," she informed me, and I chuckled, climbing up the delectable curves of her body to capture her lips with a searing kiss.

"Anything you want," I reiterated when she was lying soft and pliant beneath me, the tension I'd felt in her body having melted away. "Your wish is my command, remember?"

She nodded, smiling dreamily, and I smiled back, enjoying the silent cocoon she'd drawn around us, both amazed and grateful that this incredible girl was mine…and that she was more than able to make all of _my_ wishes come true.

_~OB~_

It was early afternoon before we finally made it to the bed, having given the Kama Sutra a fairly good run for its money. Virtually infinite stamina, strength, and flexibility certainly added something special to the equation, and I chuckled hoarsely as joy overwhelmed me…not for the first time this glorious day.

Being intimately connected together, my laughter triggered another round of blissful sensations to course through our joined bodies, and we moaned happily against each other's lips.

"That was…this is…you were…Oh my…" Bella murmured incoherently and yet with charming eloquence.

"My sentiments exactly," I replied, snuggling her close and loving the feel of her supple body, all warm and liquid, resting languorously on top of me.

"Some of those moves…and the things that you did…and the things that _I _did! I didn't know most of that was even possible or that anything could feel so good for so long and in so many different ways," she marveled, clearly awed and causing my chest to expand.

"It's a vampire thing," I murmured with justifiable pride, and it was Bella's turn to giggle.

"Oh, really," she teased, leaning on her elbows so she could stare down into my extremely satisfied expression. "So mere mortals can't do all those things we just did?"

"Not all of them…but some," I admitted. "If they're extremely fit and double-jointed."

This time we both laughed, and I rolled her with me so that I was now the one on top.

"What state is the room in?" she asked, glancing around, her expression still dazed. "Oh, dear," she murmured as we both took inventory of the chaos we'd created.

The curtains that had covered a non-existent window now hung askew—what was left of them, as they'd been well and truly shredded.

Bella's computer desk was no more, though I was hoping the laptop had survived. We tended to buy only the best, most durable brands, and it didn't _look_ like it had been pulverized.

The bottom left corner of her chest of drawers was missing, causing it to lean sideways. The jewelry, ornaments, and pictures that had decorated its top lay scattered across the floor in a jumble of broken glass and fragments.

And a new and rather sizeable-looking crack spread up one wall and across the ceiling.

But we'd managed not to destroy the bed...so that was something.

"Emmett's going to be really impressed," Bella noted, and I burst out laughing.

"I think you're right," I agreed when I could stop chuckling. "Sorry about your things. I'll repair what I can and find replacements for the rest. I promise."

"Hey," Bella murmured, reaching up to cup my face with her hands. "Don't worry. It was so worth it."

"Really?" I couldn't keep the grin off my face.

"Really," she replied, grinning back. "Besides…I can always get Alice to pick up the originals from home now that we're not keeping me a secret from Charlie."

"True," I mused, leaning in for another delicious kiss. "I love you so much," I murmured against her lips smiling happily though my words were spoken with all the sincerity I could muster.

Bella's smile faded, and I wondered at the seriousness that suddenly transformed her expression. Being able to read her mind at times like this would certainly be useful.

"What is it, baby?" I breathed, gently brushing my lips over hers once more.

"It's not just a vampire thing, is it?" she asked, sounding a little insecure. "I mean our love…the way we feel about each other. It is _real_…isn't it?"

Sobering, I softly caressed her cheek with my fingers. "It's more than real, Bella. It's you and me in whatever form we take. Human, vampire…this is us. Our feelings for each other will last forever…I promise."

"Then show me," she whispered, and I cocked my head to the side.

"Make love to me as if we were human…slowly…gently. I want to know what that feels like, too."

"Anything you want," I whispered, unable to hide my smirk.

"What?" It was Bella's turn to ask.

"This will be our first time to make love in an actual bed, so slow and gentle is probably not a bad idea," I explained.

"Not a bad idea at all." She nodded, smiling that incredibly sultry smile of hers while beginning to move sensually beneath me.

The next hour passed blissfully. Making love to Bella however, whenever, wherever she wanted was the highlight of my existence. Well, other than when we'd she'd finally told me that she loved me…and when she'd accepted my proposal…and when we'd exchanged our vows in the meadow…and when we'd made love for the first time, and the second, and the third… Those memories would be hard to top, but I had a feeling that wouldn't stop us from trying, or maybe I should say _adding_ to the list.

With softly shared sighs, gentle caresses and achingly sweet kisses, we loved each other reverently…tenderly…perfectly. Not that our frenzied lovemaking from earlier had been any less perfect… just different.

We hadn't been able to get enough of each other, practically devouring one another with our passion and the sheer, overwhelming lust that had threatened to consume us both like a wildfire blazing out of control.

Taking Bella up against the wall with her legs wrapped tightly around my waist, her hands tangled in my hair as she guided my eager mouth to first one sweet breast and then the other. Then I knelt before her while she lay on the floor. With her knees pressed against my chest, I thrust hard inside her, as she arched her back. Delighting me with her uninhibited responses, she pushed against me, drawing me impossibly deeper. Then taking the initiative, she flipped us over and rode me every which way a cowgirl could ride…and a few I was sure they couldn't.

Later, she seemed to particularly enjoy it when I entered her from behind with us both on our knees…if the twenty minute long orgasm that had threatened to render her unconscious was anything to go by.

All things considered, it had been amazing…earth-shattering…and life-changing, just as every single encounter I had with Bella transformed me, little by little, from the miserable, brooding and admittedly bitter individual I'd been to someone completely new…someone intensely happy and grateful beyond measure for the life I'd been given. If only I'd known what had been ahead, the waiting would have been a breeze. I could have endured anything if I'd known that a life with Bella was the reward that awaited me on the other side.

Focusing on the present, I made love to her with all the passion, tenderness, and newfound warmth within me. And she did the same. When we eventually came together, having drawn out the inevitable for as long as inhumanly possible, our joy was, if anything, even more intense…the rapture that enveloped us all-consuming.

Sighing contentedly, we snuggled into each other's arms when we came back to ourselves, crooning words of love and joy and commitment, as we breathed deep of the each other's intoxicating scent.

"I guess I'd better drop the shield so we can find out what's going on out in the world, though I imagine someone would have come for us if we were needed," Bella murmured sleepily when a few more moments had passed.

Once the shield was down, I listened in to the thoughts of the household for a moment, relieved not to have anything negative to report. Thankfully, Seth was healing even faster than expected, with Carlisle confident he'd make a full recovery. Seth's mother, Sue, had visited for a couple of hours during the middle of the day when Jasper was confident—by the vibes we were putting out—that Bella and I weren't about to surface anytime soon. And to Carlisle's surprise, he'd been able to send the boy home with Sam and his parents, leaving the house blessedly wolf-free.

Other than that, the day had been fairly uneventful…a nice change for all concerned. Rose and Emmett had taken some time to go hunt together, with Emmett determined to incorporate as many moves as he could think of while they were out, to have something to taunt me with when they returned. I wasn't sure if I should tell him that Bella and I had beaten him and Rose hands down. It was private, and I was content to secretly gloat. Besides, the smug smile on my face was sure to drive him insane.

Carlisle and Esme were looking forward to some alone time tonight after Bella's father had left, though I had a feeling they wouldn't be the only couple disappearing quite early in the evening to enjoy time together. Jasper had found it difficult to contain all the excess emotionBella and I had been emanating all day, and a fair amount of it had leaked, leaving everyone feeling particularly loved up…amongst other things.

Once I'd brought Bella up to date, she rolled on her side and we gazed into each other's eyes.

"What a wonderful day," she pleased me by announcing.

"And we've got the whole night ahead of us," I reminded her, drawing her against me and giving her a little taste of what I still had planned.

Stifling a moan, she pushed me away, and I stared at her affronted.

"Hey," I complained, reaching for her again only to have my hands swatted like I was a naughty child.

"Enough," she informed me sternly. "I need a shower…we both do, but I think we'd better take them separately, or I'll never get Charlie's dinner cooked in time."

"We could order takeout," I suggested, making my expression and tone as winsome as possible.

"But we won't," Bella reprimanded, throwing back the covers and dragging me from the bed. "I promised Charlie I'd cook his favorites, and that's what I'm going to do…unless _you'd _like to be the one to explain to him why I had to renege on my promise?" she offered, and I shuddered, holding my hands out in front of me. I was still a little disturbed by some of the truly diabolical things he'd imagined doing to me.

"Nope… a promise is a promise," I agreed with great solemnity, which was a little difficult to accomplish considering I was completely naked and still partially aroused, though thoughts of discussing our phenomenal sexual escapades with Charlie soon put that to rights. "Lead the way, oh beloved wife. I am your humble servant, though I'm not sure how much help I'll be in the kitchen since human food all smells and tastes like mud to me."

"That's okay," Bella smiled sweetly before swatting my backside playfully. "There are always dishes that need washing."

Groaning with mock indignation, I followed her example and donned the robes that Alice had considerately thought to leave hanging on the back of the door—thankfully we hadn't shredded them. Then, hand in hand, Bella and I left our little love den behind to face what I considered the rather daunting prospect of preparing a meal for a man who, if he had any idea of some of the things I'd just done to his daughter, would shoot me on sight.

_~OB~_

**_Hmmm…I do love that basement. Now where to from here…angst, drama, battles, fluff, lemons, family time…decisions decisions. ;)_**

**_xxx TLSue _**


	42. Time

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. All I want is my own copy of Breaking Dawn 1, but it's not in the shops here yet. Sigh…_**

**_Thanks for all your lovely reviews and ongoing support despite my epic fail in the reply department. Deciding to post two stories on FFn at the same time wasn't my brightest move. But then, I wasn't expecting real life to spin quite so wildly out of control._**

**_Thanks Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro for being both betas and friends, and Content1 for keeping me inspired when I run out of ideas. :D_**

**_Update: Saturday, February 11th, 2012  
>Words: 3065<em>**

Chapter 42

Time

BPOV

Cooking dinner with Edward was fun—the teasing, the playful nudges and stolen kisses, even his joking comments about how awful it all looked and smelled—though I think he was grateful I didn't go so far as to make him taste any of it. I can't say that it smelled particularly appetizing to me either, but fortunately, my sense of smell was still able to differentiate between the herbs and spices as well as letting me know if the food was fresh.

Edward finished wiping the last of the dishes, grumbling good-naturedly the whole time about not having had to perform such a menial chore in more decades than he cared to recall. Then he sat on the counter, swinging his long, lean legs back and forth while he watched me finish up.

"You're very good at this," he noted, and I smiled shyly, my instinct still to duck my head and hide behind my hair when faced with a compliment...or attention of any sort for that matter. The only thing missing from my usual reaction was the blush that would have previously stained my cheeks. My fragile complexion had been the bane of my life, but oddly, I found myself missing the warm flush that had previously telegraphed my emotions.

"What is it?" Edward asked, dropping down from the bench and coming to wrap his arms around me when he saw my smile fade away.

"Oh...it's nothing. I'm just being silly," I murmured, snuggling close against his chest. Breathing deeply of his delicious scent, I held him close, enjoying the feel of his warm, male body. Well...warm for a vampire.

"You could never be silly to me," he persisted, and I looked up to meet his puzzled gaze. He was telling the truth, and it was a heady feeling to know that my thoughts and feelings mattered to someone else almost more than they did to me. While I'd always known that my parents loved me, they were both quite self-contained in their very different ways. I'd learned to be independent from a young age, and had never asked for too much attention...or needed it for that matter. But things were so very different now. I needed Edward in a way I'd never needed anything before, even more than I needed blood…a situation that would probably change if I were deprived of sustenance for any great length of time, I knew. But that was purely physical. My need for Edward went so much deeper.

"Hey," he murmured when I didn't respond, lifting my chin with his forefinger. "Where are you? You keep disappearing on me, and I don't know what to make of it. Please…tell me what's wrong…I'm starting to worry here."

"Just thinking about all the changes that have occurred in my life," I admitted, reaching to brush my fingers softly down his cheek and along the line of his jaw. I still couldn't quite believe that he was mine to touch and caress whenever I wanted...however I wanted.

The thought brought on another "should have been blushing" moment, and I automatically ducked my head, memories of the amazing day we'd just spent together bombarding my senses with one intimately sensual image after another.

"Bella?" Edward persisted, though he sounded tentative. "Are you having regrets...well, more regrets?"

"What? No..." I reassured him. "Not about you and me. It's just a lot to take in, that's all. A month ago I'd never had a boyfriend. I hadn't even been kissed. I'm kind of shy, or at least I used to be, and now I'm...I'm..._married_." I could barely comprehend that the word applied to me.

"What about Jacob? I know you said you were only friends, but he seems to think there was a lot more going on between the two of you." Edward shrugged, his tone casual, but I could feel the tension in his muscles as he spoke.

"Jake and I grew up together, spending our summers playing and hanging out. We used to hold hands sometimes, but I always thought of him as a brother," I explained. "I realized something had changed when we spent the weekend together before my first day at Forks High, but it wasn't like I'd agreed to go out with him or anything. He has no right to be acting like I've cheated on him, because I haven't. We were just friends...best friends. Or so I thought…" I concluded disconsolately, and Edward soothingly rubbed my arms.

"You haven't done anything wrong, Bella, in any of this. From what I read in his thoughts, Jake had been wanting more for a while. When he made the transformation to wolf, his volatile emotions convinced him that the feelings were mutual."

"Yeah...I kind of guessed that's what must have happened. But it's not just Jake that's bothering me. There are other things, too. In three weeks I've gone from first kiss to us having all this amazing sex," I whispered the last part, not that that stopped Emmett from guffawing in the living room, though Rosalie quickly silenced him with what sounded like a smack to the back of the head.

Ignoring the fact that having a private conversation in this house was impossible—other than in the basement—I continued with a sigh. "It just feels a little weird, I guess, especially now that my dad knows about me...about us." I finished with a rueful shrug.

"I wouldn't worry too much about your dad. He seems like a reasonable man," Edward offered, though I couldn't help noticing the way his voice croaked a little when he spoke. It made me wonder just how reasonable Charlie's thoughts had actually been when he'd discovered that Edward was responsible for the loss of my virginity—along with my humanity. While I was incredibly happy to have my dad back in my life, knowing that he knew that Edward and I were having sex was kind of cringe-inducing.

"Charlie's had a lot to take in," I said, skirting the issue. "He was really looking forward to me coming to live with him full-time, and then he thought he'd lost me." I shook my head, shuddering when I thought of the magnitude of what he must have suffered over the past month. "Then he finds out that I'm alive, but he can't have me back because it's not safe...and I belong with you now."

"We belong _together_," Edward declared, mesmerizing me with his amber gaze. "But that doesn't mean you can't have a good relationship with your father, Bella, especially now that he knows about us...I mean, the vampire part. We'll make sure he's included in our plans, and it will get easier to spend time with him as your control develops...though it's pretty impressive already. You are an astonishing newborn."

"She sure is!" Emmett yelled from the living room.

Jasper called, "Hear! Hear!" from his and Alice's upstairs bedroom where they'd gone to escape the cooking smells that were turning Jasper's stomach.

I smiled at the compliments, refusing to duck my head this time.

With the lasagna baking and everything else prepared and ready for dinner, I escaped Edward's arms for the second it took me to wipe down the benches.

"Do you think you'd be okay with me spending some time with Jake?" I plucked up the courage to ask when I was finished, and Edward's eyes widened. "I know he's made some big mistakes, but he's been through a lot, too, what with the whole wolf phasing thing. He's only sixteen, but he's out hunting killer vampires in his spare time…not that it sounds like he has much between school and running patrols. I can't imagine what it must have been like thinking he'd lost me and then finding out I'm alive but that I've been turned into the enemy…so to speak. I'd hate to think we couldn't be friends anymore."

Edward groaned and his shoulders drooped. "If it's important to you," he sighed resignedly before winking and pulling me close. "Though I may insist on long, hot showers after he leaves…to get rid of the wolf smell."

I laughed, surprised by his teasing response and quite liking the idea, but then my smile faded. "You won't get _jealous, _will you?" I asked, wincing.

"What's there to be jealous about?" he demanded, and I felt my hackles rise. While my new life as a vampire had gone a long way toward dispelling most of my old insecurities about my appearance and worth, they weren't that far below the surface.

"Wait!" Edward cried, tugging me back when I made to pull away, hurt. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I promise, Bella, that I am going to hate it when we have to go out in public. Every man who sees you is going to be stunned by your beauty and most of them are going to think things that will make me want to tear them apart. I just meant that there is no reason for me to be jealous because I _trust_ you. We're together now. There could never be anyone else for me but you and..." His voice trailed away.

"I feel exactly the same way." I finished for him, and he sighed with relief.

"Besides," he continued, nuzzling the side of my face with his lips, his breath brushing my ear. "There's no way you're going to want to get too close to Jacob...on account of him smelling like a wet dog."

"Edward!" I screeched, but he'd slipped away and was out of the house and half-way across the back yard before I caught up with him. That didn't stop me from tackling him hard and sending us both tumbling across the grass, laughing and tickling each other in the process. We came to a stop with him laying full length on top of me, a situation I didn't mind in the least. When he lowered his head to capture my mouth with his, my eyes fluttered closed as I savored his kiss, a contented sigh escaping my lips.

I was sure things would have been different if we'd both been human…a couple of juniors meeting in high school. If Edward had still been interested in me—and I was beginning to believe that he would have, even with my clumsiness and imperfections and his god-like beauty—we would have most likely just started dating…maybe progressed to the fooling around stage…a little. But I couldn't imagine that I would have made love with my first-ever boyfriend after only a few weeks together…and certainly not a dozen times in twenty-four hours…and still be craving more. Physically, I wasn't even sure that was possible…for humans.

Falling in love with Edward was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to me, and I didn't regret it or any of the things we had done. But becoming a vampire had changed me in so many different ways, and a part of me was a little shocked by my uninhibited responses and the strength of the desire that now simmered just beneath the surface, waiting to flare to life at the slightest provocation.

I wanted blood…at least once a day…though more often would have been very, very welcome. And I wanted Edward—constantly—which wasn't necessarily a problem since he clearly wanted me every bit as much. But I wasn't sure how I was supposed to reconcile this strange new life with my old one…in particular, the humanity that I was afraid of losing.

"Bella?" Edward broke our kiss to stroke the side of my face, his expression gently bemused. "Any chance you'd let me know what you're thinking?"

"Hmmm…." I mused. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Please?" he asked, his tone serious, and I dropped my teasing façade.

"I just…I don't know how to _do _all of this and keep hold of the person I used to be," I admitted, and he lifted himself from my body, rolling to the side on the grass so that we could face each other. Our hands quickly entwined to maintain our connection.

"A month ago I was an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl, scared about coming to a new high school. Now I feel like I'm this hardcore addict or something."

Rolling onto my back again, I pulled a hand free to run it through my hair before turning my face toward him.

"I'm learning to control my thirst, but a part of me thinks about blood _all the time_, and I guess I'm still a little shaken about how I reacted when I smelled my dad's scent. I'm scared, Edward. I know it's a strange question to be asking, but how do I stop myself from attacking Charlie?" I raised a hand to stop him from interrupting. "And it's not just the bloodlust. Now that we've made love, I want _you _all the time, too…even more than blood. How do I stop myself from attacking you in _front of_ Charlie? I was a high school junior and now I'm this blood-crazed, sex-crazed…"

"Don't say 'monster!'" Edward growled, rising up on his elbow to loom over me. "Please, Bella. It will get easier, and you'll adjust. I'll help you…we _all _will. You're not alone in this."

"I know, baby," I murmured, reaching to caress the worried frown from his brow. "I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just having a hard time recognizing myself…that's all."

"You're still _you,_ Bella…you always will be. I won't let you lose yourself," he insisted. "But I know what you're saying. I remember asking myself the same questions. I felt the same way…well, except for the sex-crazed part." He smirked a little, and I scowled.

"Yeah, well, it takes two, _mister,_ and I don't see you complaining," I huffed.

"I'm not…believe me!" Edward's expression seemed suddenly panicked, and I snickered. He looked like a kid who'd been threatened with having his candy bar taken away.

"I want you just as badly, Bella. I've wanted you every minute of every day since I first saw you in the school cafeteria," he assured me.

"Oh!" I stared at him, a little surprised. "I guess I knew that, but thanks for being patient with me. How have you controlled it?"

"At first, I didn't think you'd want me around after what I'd done. Then, when I realized you were falling for me too, I wanted to give you the time you needed before…" He shrugged, his lips quirking in a chagrined smile.

"But now?" I asked a little breathlessly.

Waggling his eyebrows, he lowered his head to capture my lips in a searing kiss. "Now…you're mine, and all I want is you," he breathed against my open, hungry mouth.

Drawing in his intoxicating scent, I gave myself up to the kiss for a while. The taste of his sweet lips reminded me of our first kiss, yet with the memory of our passionate, intimate, and highly erotic love-making fresh in my mind, I was aroused to fever-pitch in an instant.

Whimpering, I forced myself to pull away. "This is what I'm worried about," I panted, reaching to stroke his hair back from his forehead, moaning at my body's response to the feel of the silken strands running sensually through my fingers. "How do we manage this? How do we stop when we need to? I can barely think of anything but you and me and the amazing things we could be doing together."

Groaning, Edward closed his eyes and let his forehead fall to rest on mine. He was every bit as aroused as I was, so I knew he understood what I was saying.

"We learn to control it, just like the bloodlust," he replied, and my mouth drew down into a pout.

"That's what I was afraid you were going to say," I grumbled.

Chuckling, he stroked a finger across my lower lip, coaxing a smile from my mouth.

"It's going to be okay, sweetheart. There are twenty-four hours in a day, which gives us plenty of time to do all the things we need to do and still have time for loving each other_._"

"A _lot _of loving? You promise?" I pleaded, not too proud to beg, especially with the feel of his body pressing against mine.

"I promise. Lots and lots and lots of loving," he murmured between more sweet, sexy, addictive kisses. "We'll have all night long to love each other…and when we go hunting…and when we take showers afterward…and when we take breaks from whatever we're doing during the day…and when its siesta time…and…"

Giggling, I rolled us over so that I now lay on top of him.

"Edward, as much as I'd like to make love to you every moment of every day, that won't leave time for anything else. I don't want to be a high school dropout, so I'll need to study if I'm going to graduate some time. And I want to keep learning new languages and practicing the ones you've taught me, as well as playing the guitar and making music together, and studying history with Jasper, and learning about computers with Emmett, and spending girl time with Rose and Alice, and cooking and doing stuff with Esme, and having these amazing conversations with Carlisle. And I'll need time for when Charlie visits, and maybe to catch up with Jake when things have settled down, and…"

"Whoa…whoa!" Edward laughed and put a finger to my lips. "No wonder you're worried about managing it all, but one thing at a time, sweetheart. We'll fit it all in. We've got all the time in the world, remember? _Forever._"

"Forever," I echoed happily, thinking—not for the first time—that there were some things about being a vampire that were very, very cool.

"Bella! The timer's gone off!" Esme called from the house, effectively ending our little interlude. "Do you want me to take the lasagna out of the oven, or do you need to check it first?"

Chuckling, I stood, with Edward beside me.

"Be right there," I called, as we turned and headed toward the house together, arm-in-arm. Being a vampire might have given me supernatural abilities, but that didn't mean I fancied serving Charlie burnt lasagna…especially the first time I had him over for dinner with my new husband and the in-laws in attendance.

_~OB~_

**_A bit of a 'filler' chapter in a way, but I really wanted to give Bella some time to address the momentous changes that have occurred in her life in such a short space of time. Hope you didn't mind. ;)_**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_PS...almost forgot. I have some great stories to rec. Check out Squeaky Zorro's new one shots, My Impotence and Inner Fire Rekindled...both really lovely. And for a longer read, check out theladyingrey's String Theory. It's a complete AH story with a very sweet and cute Geekward, that I thoroughly enjoyed. _**


	43. Distraction

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended. _**

**_Thanks for all the lovely reviews, and my apologies that this update has taken twice as long as usual for me…two weeks rather than one. Real life pressures – work, home and health – have caught up with me, I'm afraid. But on a positive note, this is a nice long chapter, and I resisted the urge to split it down the middle. ;)_**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, and to Content1 for their wonderful support._**

**_Updated: Saturday, February 25th 2012  
>Words:6236<em>**

Chapter 43

Distraction

EPOV

Walking with Bella toward the house, I glanced up at the kitchen window and saw Esme watching us, an indulgent, motherly smile lighting her face. Seeing myself reflected in her thoughts, I was taken aback by the remarkable change in my appearance. More times than I cared to recall over the years, the picture I'd presented was one of forced cheer, at best, or pervasive loneliness and melancholy at worst.

But not now.

The relaxed, extremely contented-looking young man walking with a loose gait across the lawn, a stunningly beautiful brunette tucked beneath his arm, was a far cry from the mental image I'd had of myself…before Bella had come into my life.

Everything was different now.

Everything was better.

Which didn't mean that the thought of having my new father-in-law over for dinner wasn't somewhat anxiety inducing. A few of the more diabolical torture methods he'd imagined using to punish me for what I'd done to his daughter flashed through my mind, and my step faltered. Bella squeezed my waist to steady me.

"Edward?" she murmured, looking up at me, her gentle smile accompanied by a slight furrowing in her brow. The look in her eyes, soft…curious…tender…triggered an ache in the region of my heart, and the love I felt for her welled up, warming me from within.

Drawing us both to a halt, I turned her in my arms so that we stood face to face. The swell of her breasts brushed against my chest, and we swayed together, increasing the connection until our bodies touched at waist and hip and thigh. I brushed my finger softly down her cheek and along her jaw, lifting her chin before leaning down to cover her lush, red lips with mine.

"Hmmm…" she hummed against my mouth, smiling. Deepening the kiss, she swiped her tongue slowly across my lower lip. I opened my mouth at her urging, allowing her all the freedom she wanted to explore and stroke and tease.

Esme was watching. We were on our way to check on the meal Bella had made for her father's dinner. I was supposed to be helping her maintain some level of control…but all other considerations were forgotten and my own decidedly tentative hold crumbled at her delicious taste.

Before I even knew what I'd planned, I lifted her in my arms.

"Oh…yes," Bella moaned against my mouth, wrapping her legs around my waist, and with half a dozen determined strides, I had her back pressed up against the wall of the house. She moaned again as I leaned in, my hardness coming into perfect alignment with her feminine heat and softness. Our mouths moved together, her fingers tangling in my hair, gently scraping my scalp and sending tingles shooting down my spine.

"Bella," I groaned against her lips, a passionate growl rumbling deep in my chest. My hands found the edges of her shirt, working their way underneath in eagerness to reach my goal…her soft, smooth skin. I pulled back just far enough to allow myself access and trailed my fingers over her ribs, eliciting delicious shivers as she trembled beneath my touch. When I reached the edge of her lace-trimmed bra, she squirmed against me, and I gladly cupped her breasts in my hands. Softly, I squeezed and weighed the exquisite curves that I was becoming to know so well…their feel…their taste…their perfection. With a gasp, she arched her back, pressing against my hands and rewarding me with a soft and oh, so sexy purr.

Bella whimpered, and smiling, I lifted my mouth from hers to see the longing in her expression.

"Want you," she murmured.

"Love you," I breathed in reply, and our mouths sought and found each other again, moving together with hungry sighs and moans.

Love… perfect love.

I'd never expected to find it. Never expected it would be this overwhelming. Never expected to be so incredibly, completely, utterly happy…or perpetually aroused. The only thing that could compete with the love I felt for Bella was my desire to be constantly touching, caressing, kissing and just…holding her. I recognized my feelings for what they were—lust…primal, visceral, sensual—but to my profound relief, there was no shame. The desire I felt for Bella was as pure and deep as the love from which it sprang.

Growling, I released her mouth to brush my lips along her jaw. She angled her head to give me greater access to her neck, and I sought and found the sensitive spot below her ear. Gently suckling the soft skin into my mouth, I drew another whimper from her lips…and I smiled. I was learning Bella's secrets just as she was intent on discovering mine.

I was glad to give them up.

A shudder ran through me when she tugged my shirt from my jeans—without tearing it, which was quite an accomplishment considering the frenzy of our need for one another—and scraped her nails slowly up my spine. I was just about to take the shirt off to give her free rein over my skin when I heard Emmett's whistling approach.

Groaning, I removed my hands from beneath Bella's blouse and gently lowered her to the ground, coming back to the present…and reality…with reluctance.

"Wha…?" she cried, and I pulled her close, my forehead coming to rest against hers as I attempted to calm us both with soothing strokes down her back. My distraction had been unprecedented. I'd virtually forgotten where we were and had come close to making love to her against the wall of the house…in daylight…with the family at home.

"I'd tell you guys to get a room, but you wrecked the last one," Emmett drawled, standing in the back door and eyeing us both with a grin.

"Emmett," I growled, hearing the direction of his thoughts.

"Hey! I don't care if you two want to go for it out in the open," he laughed, but I didn't see the funny side when Bella flinched and ducked her head against my shoulder, no doubt having come to the realization of where we were and just how close we'd come to doing exactly what Emmett described.

"Lord knows, Rose and I lost control often enough in the beginning, though I can't honestly say I remember what the rest of you did when it happened," he mused, casting his thoughts back to a time in our family's history that I would much rather forget.

"We discreetly took our leave and gave you some _privacy_," I reminded him pointedly, and he at least had the grace to look sheepish.

"Yeah? Good to know," he nodded. "I don't think we came up for air that first year, other than to hunt." He smirked, his description fairly accurate. "You could have filmed us, and I wouldn't have been any the wiser."

Bella shuddered, but then she lifted her head, a look I was beginning to recognize as mischief sparkling in her eyes.

"Vampire porn?" she murmured, and both Emmett's and my mouth dropped open. "As if _that _wouldn't give the secret away."

I froze, stunned to hear the word come out of Bella's mouth. Emmett looked just as surprised, his mind virtually a blank, and then he guffawed with laughter, bending over and slapping his knees.

I wasn't sure how to respond, but then Bella reached up and gently closed my still gaping mouth with her forefinger before giving me a wink.

"You…you've seen porn?" I croaked.

"Of course not, silly," she giggled. "But I do know how it's made…sort of."

She frowned at the last part, and I felt my chest deflate as I released the breath I'd been holding. The thought of Bella having been exposed to the graphic images that were readily available in this day and age was abhorrent to me. I wasn't sure if it was jealousy or just protectiveness I was feeling, but a growl rumbled in my chest, and I fought the urge to grab her and haul her away to the safety of our room where I could lock us in…and the world out.

Shaking my head, I tried to clear it of the primitive urges plaguing my thoughts. I would _not _turn caveman on her, no matter how much I was tempted.

"Was there a particular reason you interrupted us?" she asked Emmett, one of her lovely brows arching high.

"Oh…yeah," he muttered between snickers. "Esme sent me to tell you two that Bella's dad called, and he's on his way over early. She thought it might be better if he didn't catch the two of you going at it like rabbits in the backyard."

Bella gasped, and I patted her arm reassuringly.

"She could have just thought the message my way," I growled, annoyed with Emmett for his insensitive delivery, but he just shrugged.

"I think she tried that. I know I did…but you were a teensy bit distracted." He pinched a finger and thumb to illustrate, and I grimaced.

"Nope, that was me," Bella admitted sheepishly. "It's becoming an automatic response, I think, to enclose Edward in my shield whenever we…" It was her turn to shrug, embarrassed, while I tried to contain the grin that wanted to break free.

My girl…my _wife…_was protective of me…of _us._

"You are amazing," I murmured, turning my back to Emmett and drawing Bella into my arms. She melted against me, her body warm and supple as she rose up on her toes so that her arms could reach around my neck.

"Amazing, hey?" she breathed against my throat, her lips brushing along my jaw on a tantalizing path to my mouth.

"Yes," I moaned against her lips. "The control you're developing over your shield is incredible."

Pulling back just far enough for me to see her pout, she looked up at me from beneath her lashes with hot, teasing eyes.

"So that's the only reason you think I'm amazing…my control?" she purred, and it was my turn to melt…except for the parts that were suddenly extremely hard.

"Just one item on a very, _very _long list," I breathed and pulled her back against me so that I could capture that pouting lower lip and give it the attention it demanded.

"Man…you guys have got it bad," Emmett chuckled.

_Not that I blame you, bro, _he thought my way. _I can't tell you how happy I am for the two of you…we all are. And Bella really is amazing, but her dad's on his way…_

Groaning, I reluctantly pulled away from Bella's lips and gently disengaged her fingers from where they were linked behind my neck. She looked a little dazed, and then her expression cleared, and we exchanged a rueful smile.

"Later," I mouthed, and she nodded, reaching up to place a soft kiss on my cheek.

"I'm going to hold you to that," she whispered close to my ear, and I shivered.

Nestling her under my arm, I smiled when she immediately wrapped hers tightly around my waist, and together we made our way into the house.

"Thanks, Alice…" Bella called as we paused at the door to the dining room where my sister was putting the finishing touches to the table decorations. "…I think," she added, taking in the linen table cloth, tapered candles and tea roses floating in a glass bowl in the centre of the huge table.

"Too much?" Alice grimaced, and Bella caught her lip between her lower teeth.

"Charlie and I usually just ate together at the kitchen table." She shrugged and Alice's face fell. "But it's a special occasion, so I'm sure he won't mind," she offered, and I added another example of Bella's compassion and caring to the already long list I had compiled in my thoughts.

"I tried not to go overboard." Alice smiled winsomely, and Bella's eyes widened.

"You should see what she had planned before Esme and Rose intervened," I murmured on our way through to the kitchen. The elegant—though rather formal—setting Alice had decided upon was relatively restrained in comparison to her original extravagant decorating themes.

"I just hope Charlie doesn't feel uncomfortable being the only one eating."

I could appreciate Bella's worried tone, but I couldn't see an alternative. There was no point putting on our usual charade since he was aware that none of us ate human food. We could cut down the number of family members in attendance, but we'd need Jasper and Alice's assistance, and it would seem strange if Carlisle and Esme weren't present. That only left Emmett and Rose, and I could guarantee they would feel hurt if I tried to exclude them.

"We'll keep the conversation moving, and I'm sure Jasper will help to smooth over any awkwardness," I assured Bella, and she nodded, though her lower lip remained caught between her teeth, betraying her concern.

After checking on the lasagna and declaring it ready, Bella adjusted the temperature to keep it warm. The sound of her father's car turning into the driveway caught her attention, and she swallowed hard. When she rubbed her hands on the front of her jeans as if to wipe them dry of perspiration—a human consideration—I reached for her again.

"What is it, love?" I asked as she nestled against me.

"Still not sure how to do all this, I suppose," she admitted with a shrug. "Your family understands, but I get so easily distracted, and now that we're…you know…_married, _I'm having a hard time thinking of anything but us. I guess I'm just a bit uncomfortable with Charlie knowing that we're…we're…"

"Intimate?" I finished for her as she was clearly having a hard time finding the right word. She flinched, revealing just how difficult this was for her.

"He'll get used to the idea, and I promise to behave," I reassured her, leaning in to kiss the top of her head and then her cheek and finally her lips. "I'll help you…we all will. It will be fine."

"Fine," she echoed, pulling out of my embrace and walking out the kitchen door.

I smiled, watching the enticing sway of her bottom in her tight jeans. Groaning, I mentally scolded myself for the direction of my thoughts. It would appear that Bella wasn't the only one to be easily distracted.

I'd assured her that everything would be fine, but as she moved at a human pace through the house, I realized that her father was driving much faster than was usual for him. He screeched to a stop, leaping from the car and approaching the house at a run, his heart beating fast.

Bella looked to me in alarm.

"Wait!" I called as she went to run for the door, and she hesitated, her expression torn.

We weren't prepared. Charlie wasn't supposed to have arrived for another hour or so. Jasper and Alice were upstairs…_occupied. _Not that I blamed them…Jasper had virtually overdosed on the excess passion that Bella and I had been emanating all day, and I'd quietly agreed with his decision to expend the excess emotion so that he was clear-headed for the evening ahead.

"Jazz!" I shouted, startling him and Alice. There was no way I would have interrupted them unless it was an emergency.

Carlisle blurred down the stairs, having heard the vehicle approach and the panic in my tone, arriving at the front door just as Charlie shoved it open and stepped inside.

"I want to see Bella…now!" her father demanded, his thoughts a jumble of confusion. Despite how well he'd projected the punishment scenarios he would have liked to subject me to that morning, I struggled to make sense of the fragmented images I was receiving from him in his heightened emotional state. I saw dead bodies, Sam and Jacob in both human and wolf form, and myself and my family, our eyes glowing red. The only word I heard clearly was _murderers!_

Unaware of Charlie's inner turmoil and suspicions, but responding to his obvious agitation, Carlisle spoke to him in a calm reassuring tone.

"She's right here, Charlie, and perfectly safe." He gestured to where Bella and I stood at the entrance to the foyer. "Everything's fine," he added, echoing my own promise to Bella…but his assurances were premature.

A slight breeze from outside wafted Charlie's scent into the room, and Bella stiffened beside me. I clamped down on her shoulder, but she brushed my hand away as if I were a gnat.

_Edward!_ Jasper's mental warning arrived at the same time as Alice's terrifying vision invaded my thoughts…too little…too late.

As if in slow motion, I lunged for Bella, but I was too used to reading my opponent's thoughts to predict their moves. She evaded me with a vicious-sounding snarl and crouched low, her eyes blazed a fiery red. Her lips curled back from teeth that snapped while her fingers formed talon-like claws.

"Bella?" her father queried with bewilderment, his thoughts trying to make sense of the incomprehensible image of Bella looking more like a typical Hollywood vampire than the slightly altered version of his daughter he'd encountered just that morning.

"No!" I shouted, throwing myself at her again at the split second that she leaped toward her father. Through Carlisle's thoughts, I saw him grab Charlie and whisk him through the front door, running with him in his arms away from the house. But my attention was on Bella. Crashing into her with a sickening thud, we tumbled across the floor of the foyer, coming up hard against the central beam supporting the staircase. It shuddered at the impact, sending a crack spiraling up through the huge pillar and across the ceiling, just as Alice and Jasper came racing down the stairs and Esme appeared in the doorway behind us.

Bella leaped to her feet. A low, feral growl tore from her lips, and it was obvious she was still intent on pursuing her father, caught up in the bloodlust triggered by his scent. Hurling myself at her again, I wrapped my arms around her waist just as Jasper and Alice grabbed her limbs. Jasper was exerting maximum influence in an attempt to calm her with his talent, and I felt a brief surge of confidence that the three of us would be able to subdue her. But then her shield activated, and we were shot outwards and away from her, to land in stunned heaps; me under the stairs that had collapsed from the impact, Jasper against the wall on the far side of the lounge, and Alice in the garden, having crashed through the picture window near the front door. Esme was nowhere to be seen, and for a startled moment I struggled to hear her thoughts…or anyone else's.

Panicked, I tore myself free of the rubble to see Bella still standing in the middle of the foyer. She took a step toward the front door, and I managed to gasp, "Bella, please…no!"

She spun to face me, a look of horror dawning on her face.

"Oh God," I heard her whisper, and then she ran, but not out the front door and after he father as I feared she would. Instead, she took off through the house. A fraction of a second later I heard the French doors at the rear of the house splintering as they tore off their hinges.

Struggling to my feet, I winced as a multitude of electrical shocks, aftereffects of the blast from Bella's shield, continued to zap my battered body.

"Jazz…check on Alice!" I cried unnecessarily, as he was already headed in her direction, his steps unsteady but determined. Her thoughts were still quiet, though I saw flickering images begin to play in her mind, even as I made my own faltering way through the house.

To my relief, Esme was conscious though dazed, and I quickly helped her to her feet.

"Go…go…" she murmured waving me on, and I staggered in the direction she gestured.

"Bella!" I shouted when I reached the gaping hole at the rear of the house. In her haste, she'd taken out a section of the wall as well as the French doors.

_Rose and I are tracking her,_ Emmett replied to my call, and I started running in his direction, my movements not much faster than human speed.

_You'd better hurry, _he continued, and I could see the forest flashing by in his thoughts. _She's moving fast, and we're having a hell of a time keeping up._

Pushing through the pain—my body not healing as quickly as I would have liked—I increased my speed, eventually reaching the river that ran through the trees at the back of the house. I usually cleared it easily, but despite my best effort, I landed well short this time. Splashing down in the water yards away from the bank, I sank to the bottom. Briefly disoriented, it took me a second to flounder to the surface and clamber up the slippery rocks on the far side.

Everything hurt, but I kept running, desperate to get to my wife. I could imagine her distress, though my relief that Alice's vision had not come to fruition was profound.

She'd seen Bella strike Charlie, breaking his neck with the force of her attack even before her teeth had connected with his skin. Even though we'd pulled her away, there'd been nothing we could do to save him. Bella was inconsolable, and the future that Alice had shown me many times of our family together and thriving had fragmented into a myriad glimpses into hell.

Running as fast as I could, but nowhere near as fast as I _should_ be able to, I cursed my complacency. Bella was a newborn…one with a formidable weapon at her disposal. Just because she'd exhibited exceptional control on a few, limited occasions didn't mean she was immune to the bloodlust that could so easily overwhelm reason, temporarily eradicating even the most determined hold on humanity.

I knew she'd be devastated by her loss of control, and I couldn't get to her fast enough, pushing myself as hard as my slowly recovering body could withstand. But a part of my mind chanted, thank God, thank God, thank God, over and over. Charlie was alive due to Alice's and Jasper's gifts and my quick reflexes…not that we should have been relying on our talents alone.

"Complacent fool," I muttered to myself. I'd not make the same mistake again.

_Are you close, Edward? _Emmett queried, and I judged that I was only a few miles away.

_Bella's stopped running, thank God, _he echoed my thoughts. _I thought we were going to have to follow her all the way to Canada._

He was staring up at a tree trunk reaching toward the sky, a glimpse of a denim-clad leg visible near the very top, enlightening me to their location.

Bella had returned to the tree we'd climbed the first day we'd spent together in the forest.

I burst through the trees almost a minute—rather than a few seconds—later, and Rose and Emmett eyed me with relief.

"What took you so long?" Rose demanded acerbically, but then her eyes widened when I staggered to a halt and had to grab at the trunk of the tree to stop from falling over.

"Edward?" She and Emmett rushed to my side, but I waved them off. I didn't want Bella to know I'd been hurt by the shock from her shield.

With a finger to my lips, I signaled them to silence.

"I'm fine," I mouthed and then winced, recalling having said that to Bella just before she lunged at her father and all hell broke loose.

"Thanks, both of you." I smiled wanly and looked up to where I could just make out Bella's huddled form. The sound of her soft whimpers stabbed at my heart, more painful by far than the residual effect of the incapacitating jolt of her shield.

_What happened to you? _Emmett queried, reaching to clasp me on the shoulder. _Was it Bella's shield?_

I nodded, and he whistled softly.

"Her dad okay?" he whispered, drawing Rosalie to his side. They'd decided to go for a brief walk together after Emmett alerted me to Charlie's imminent arrival and had been down by the river when Bella shot past.

I nodded, and they both sighed with relief.

_You going to be okay climbing that far? _Emmett signaled with a jerk of his head, and I surprised him by shrugging, my vaunted confidence having taken a beating.

"Would you mind waiting until I make it to the top before you leave?" I murmured. "Just in case I need a hand? I don't want to upset Bella any further. I'm feeling better by the minute but…" I shrugged.

"So the recovery's not instant?" Rose asked, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"Apparently not." I grimaced.

"We'll wait here until we're sure you're okay_,_"Emmett stated firmly, and I smiled my thanks. Looking up, my shoulders sagged at the thought of the climb ahead of me. It was going to take me a little longer than usual to reach the top.

I started climbing, a lot faster than a human free running champion would be able to but considerably slower than was normal for me. My muscles ached…and twitched…neither a usual occurrence. But the pain was easing with each passing minute.

Slowing as I approached the top, I saw Bella sitting on a narrow branch that bowed beneath her weight. She was rocking back and forth, her arms wrapped around her knees.

"Bella," I murmured softly, my heart breaking at the sight of her huddled, hurting form. "I'm here, sweetheart…everything's going to be okay."

"No…no…no…" she whimpered, shaking her head rapidly from side to side, causing the tree to sway.

"It is, baby, I promise. Your father wasn't hurt." I kept my voice soft and low, inching as close as I dared.

The rocking slowed, and she peered down at me through her lashes, her eyes incredibly sad.

"Charlie is fine," I repeated.

"This time," she whispered hoarsely. "But only because you stopped me. What if you hadn't been there?

"I'll always be there," I promised, and she half-smiled, half-sobbed.

"Oh…Edward," she cried, her shoulders shaking. "I tried to kill my own dad."

"I know, baby," I murmured opening my arms, and to my relief, she left the flimsy branch that wouldn't have taken our combined weight, and climbed down into my lap, wrapping her body around me. I turned so that my back was to the massive trunk and hugged her close, one hand in her hair and the other softly stroking her trembling body. She clung to me while I rocked her in my arms, soothing her whimpers with soft kisses to her cheek and neck.

"I didn't think you'd agree with me," she whispered after a while, a tiny hint of indignation in her tone.

"You're a newborn vampire," I acknowledged sadly. "But if you'd rather I denied what almost happened…"

Lifting her eyes to meet my gaze, her expression heartbreakingly sad, she sighed and then nestled her head against my chest. Resting my chin on the top of her head, I continued to stroke her back with my hand while holding her securely.

"I couldn't control it," she murmured, and I murmured for her to continue. "It's like there's this…_monster_ inside of me." She glanced up again, shrugging apologetically, before dropping her eyes. "I locked it away tightly this morning, but that was with Jasper's help and your arms wrapped around me."

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I thought we had more time to get prepared, but then your father arrived early, and I let myself get distracted. This morning went so well, especially the last couple of hours when we were sitting quite close to Charlie. You were very calm and composed, but still..."

I resisted the urge to run my fingers through my hair in exasperation, not about to ease my soothing hold on her precious body now that I had her safely in my arms.

"I guess I was…this morning." She smiled forlornly. "I was nervous about seeing Charlie tonight. I know we talked about making time for everything. But I want you all the time, Edward…_all the time._ I was worried that I wouldn't be able to control myself in front of him…that he'd be able to tell how I was feeling. But I wasn't really thinking about the _other _sort of lust."

"The bloodlust," I murmured, and she nodded sadly.

"That should have been my priority, but I never gave it a thought." Closing her eyes, she shook her head in disbelief. "Then I heard Charlie coming down the drive, and I was concerned. He never drives that fast unless there's an emergency. I could hear his heart beating like crazy, and I wanted to know what was wrong. But then the door opened, and his scent hit me, and I just…_lost it_. I wanted the blood so badly. I didn't even feel like me anymore…and my dad…_my dad.._."—the look in her eyes was pure agony—"It was like he was just…_prey_." Her words ended on an anguished cry.

"The vampire side came to the fore and the bloodlust took over." I acknowledged her words. "It's been more than twelve hours since you hunted, which is actually a long time for a newborn. We've been stretching your endurance, waiting twenty-four hours to feed in an attempt to help you to gain control over your thirst as quickly as possible but…" This time my voice faded away, my throat too thick for speech.

"But it was too soon," she whispered, her eyes dark and filled with sorrow.

I nodded and pulled her back against me. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I didn't think…I should've taken you hunting before your father arrived. I was going to suggest it, but I allowed myself to become distracted and…"

Jerking back, Bella reached to cup my face with her hands. "It's not your fault," she insisted, and I was touched by the concern and compassion in her expression.

"Neither is it yours," I murmured softly, looking deep into her eyes and willing her to believe me. "It's nobody's fault, but it shouldn't have happened, and we can make sure it never does again."

Her lower lip trembled, and I could see the doubt in her eyes. "How can we be sure? I can't risk my dad's life like that again, Edward. I would _never _forgive myself if…if…"

"I know…I know," I murmured, hoping to sooth her rising panic. "But I _promise _you, we will be better prepared in future. We'll set strict guidelines for all of us to follow." I listed the points on my fingers. "No impromptu visits from Charlie; we'll make sure you're well fed right before he arrives; and no leaving it long enough for your thirst to get out of control."

"I don't know." Bella shook her head uncertainly. "Maybe I should just wait the year until I have more control…that's if he ever wants to see me again," she finished with a sob, and I felt a stabbing pain in my chest. Despite my assurance that the incident was nobody's fault, I was furious with myself for allowing it to occur in the first place.

_Please, Edward, don't start down that path…it won't help either of you, _I heard Alice plead as she and Jasper approached the base of the tree. The visions flittering through her mind showed so many possible outcomes, I could barely keep up. But one thing was clear. Bella needed me to stay strong and _positive_ if she was going to have any chance of coming through this without giving in to despair and self-loathing.

Taking a deep breath, I straightened my shoulders and gave her my most winning smile. "Of course your father is going to want to see you again, sweetheart. He loves you very, very much."

"I can attest to that," Jasper added, his voice easily reaching us from below, and Bella rewarded our encouragement with a tentative smile.

"Okay if we come up?" Alice asked, her voice a little shaky. "Or maybe it would be better if you guys came down. I'm not sure if I'm up to climbing just yet, but I really want to tell you what I've seen, Bella."

I cocked my head and Bella nodded slowly.

"Why does Alice sound strange?" she asked, disentangling herself from my embrace and starting the downward climb. Wincing, I followed her as quickly as I could…which wasn't quick enough.

"Edward?" she looked up, waiting for me to reach the branch that she'd descended to at twice the speed I was managing.

"It's all right, sweetheart." I smiled with as much confidence as I could muster, but she eyed me suspiciously.

"Why are you moving slowly…and why didn't Alice feel up to climbing?" Her tone let me know she wouldn't be sidetracked, but then her eyes widened and I could see that she'd arrived at the answer on her own.

"My shield…I zapped everyone…I _hurt _you all!" she gasped.

"It's all right, Bella. We're fine…really," Alice insisted from below us, Jasper at her side. They'd started the climb after all and were making their way toward us.

"But I hurt you," Bella rasped. "And I tried to kill my own father. I'm not safe to be around."

Pulling her hand from my clasp, she hugged herself around the middle, balancing easily in the middle of a long branch.

"Bella, sweetheart, please," I pleaded, but she refused to look at me, her body language defensive. I wanted to wrap her in my arms, but I hesitated, uncertain.

_Let me, Edward, _Alice urged, climbing up to stand on a branch just a little bit below us. _I've seen this. I can help._

I nodded, reluctantly stepping back from my beloved when every instinct told me to encircle her in my arms and never let go.

"Sweetie?" Alice murmured, taking my place. "We're fine…really. Just a little shaken up, which is actually pretty exciting for a vampire. I've got a feeling that shield of yours is going to come in very handy one of these days.

"And you won't hurt Charlie," she continued earnestly. "I _promise_. I've seen it…not even six months from now…the two of you walking together arm in arm."

"Really?" Bella lifted her head, a glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes.

"Really…" Alice smiled and shot me a glance. I was too stunned to respond. She'd just shown an image of Bella dressed in a beautiful white gown with Charlie escorting her, wearing a tuxedo. It was the vision we'd seen for the first time in the Forks High cafeteria.

Bella's father was walking her down the aisle at _our _wedding.

Our _second _wedding.

"Edward's right. We'll take better precautions in future so nothing like this will ever happen again," Alice continued.

"That's a promise," Jasper added, his tone somber. He was taking the lapse in planning and foresight personally, and I realized I wasn't the only one beating myself up for becoming complacent.

"And if you don't lose control of the bloodlust, you won't lose control of the shield again either," Alice assured her, and Bella slowly nodded, standing a little straighter and letting her hands fall from around her waist. One glance in my direction, and I was at her side, pulling her into my embrace…where she belonged.

"Ready to go home, sweetheart?" I asked, and she looked up at me and nodded before biting on her lower lip.

"But I think I need to hunt first," she murmured, sounding tentative.

"Of course. That's an excellent idea," I agreed soberly.

She dropped her head, looking uncomfortable at the admission, and I reached to gently lift her chin.

"Sweetheart, you're doing incredibly well. It's almost impossible to change focus mid-hunt…but as soon as you came to your senses, you ran _away_ from your father, not after him. I'm so proud of you, and I _promise_ we won't let anything like that happen again…_ever_."

I could see that Bella wanted to believe me, but her expression was still glum.

"At least I turned the oven down," she muttered. "Charlie will forgive just about anything but burnt lasagna."

Jasper snorted and Alice giggled, while I determinedly suppressed the laugh that wanted to burst free at Bella's words. I was afraid that I would offend her, but she elbowed me gently, a smirk curving her lips.

"That was a joke," she admitted rolling her eyes, and I grinned, amazed all over again by my wonderful girl. Even with everything that had been thrown at her, she hadn't lost her sense of humor.

By the time we reached the ground, I was feeling more like my old self. Alice and Jasper appeared to be moving normally, too.

With Bella's hand firmly grasped in mine, I reached to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. "All set?" I asked before we headed off in the direction of some deer I sensed not far away.

"There's just one thing," she murmured, a trace of sadness but also curiosity in her eyes.

"Anything…at all," I breathed.

"Edward…" She cocked her head to the side, and I felt my eyebrows rise. "Why are you soaking wet?"

_~OB~_

**_Time to get things moving again, but I couldn't resist playing around with a bit of newborn volatility. Next up…what's bothering Charlie?_**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	44. Dilemma

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended._**

**_Thanks for the wonderful reviews and continued support from my lovely readers. Sorry I'm not doing too well with replying to reviews. Real life dramas, work, and writing two stories at once doesn't leave me much time, but I read and appreciate every single one. _**

**_Thanks to my betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, for all your help._**

**_Updated: Monday, 5th March, 2012  
>Words: 3314<em>**

Chapter 44

Dilemma

BPOV

I slowed my pace as we approached the rear of the Cullens' house.

_My _house, too, I reminded myself…though it didn't exactly feel like I was going home just now.

Edward let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, squeezing me gently. I attempted a smile in response but couldn't quite pull it off with my stomach in knots and my thoughts in turmoil. One thing I knew for sure, though, was that I wasn't ready to go inside and face the aftermath of my actions.

"Everything's going to be all right, sweetheart," he murmured, and I looked up into his worried gaze, his amber eyes reflecting both love and concern.

I wanted to believe him, but my confidence was more than a little shaken. I _had_ just tried to kill my own father.

Swallowing against the venom that pooled in my throat at the memory, I halted and moved willingly into the circle of Edward's arms.

"Your dad's thoughts aren't completely clear to me, but I can hear enough to know he's worried about you, love…not angry."

"Really? He hasn't left?" I glanced toward the house, the extensive damage I'd caused clearly visible despite the darkening sky.

"He loves you, Bella. He's not going anywhere."

The compassion in Edward's expression touched my heart, and I melted against him. As far as he was concerned, I could do no wrong, but I was having a difficult time forgiving myself for what I'd _almost_ done.

The bloodlust had hit me hard and fast, overwhelming my humanity as if it was nothing more than a brittle veneer. The monster that I'd naively thought was securely corralled had gained the upper hand so quickly, I'd gone from feeling excited about seeing Charlie again—though admittedly nervous about losing control in front of him due to Edward and my newly mated state—to utterly consumed with the desire to hunt, feed, and kill…an altogether different and far worse loss of control.

If Carlisle hadn't gotten Charlie away from me as quickly as he did…

Shuddering at the thought, I burrowed into Edward's embrace, wishing I could stay there forever.

"Come on, sweetheart," he murmured, leaning down to brush his lips softly over my brow. "Let's not keep your father waiting any longer."

Sighing, I reluctantly lifted my head, pleading with my eyes to delay going inside for just a little bit longer. I wasn't ready to face my father or Edward's family for that matter. I'd _hurt _them, and I'd done a heap of damage to the house. Though, of course, that was nothing to what I'd tried to do to Charlie. I couldn't begin to imagine what he thought of his own daughter trying to attack him with the intention of drinking his blood.

"Are you worried about your control?" Edward murmured, and I slowly shook my head.

My thirst was quenched courtesy of the deer I'd just fed from. I hadn't even needed Jasper's offer of assistance to drain off the aftereffects of the hunt. One thing I could say of all the distress and shame my terrifying behavior had caused me…I finally wasn't in the mood.

Alice and Jasper, who'd gone ahead to see how things were faring, appeared through the gaping hole where the back door had been and returned to our sides. I studied their expressions for clues. Frustratingly, they didn't speak straight away but conducted a silent, one-way conversation with Edward.

"Guys," I growled, rolling my eyes, and all three looked to me apologetically.

"Sorry, Bella," Alice offered with a grimace. "It's as we thought. Some of the wolves have come to the house, which is why everything went black a little while ago. I'm pretty sure it's going to be okay, though."

I caught the anxious look she shot Edward's way, but I didn't interrupt, wanting to hear whatever else she had to say…though it was Edward who took up the conversation.

"After your father left us this morning, he went back over the autopsy reports for the murdered hikers and put two and two together…coming up with five, I'm afraid. His conclusions were close to the truth but not one hundred percent accurate," Edward explained, a mixture of frustration and concern in his expression.

"Charlie worked out that the hikers had been murdered by vampires?" I asked, and he nodded. "I guess that was bound to happen now that he knows the truth, but I don't understand why he came racing over here early and all upset…unless he thought that _we _were the vampires involved?"

Edward's grimace gave me my answer, and my eyes widened. But then I thought of an even worse conclusion he might have drawn.

"Charlie thought that _I_ killed those people?" I cried.

"No…no…" Edward quickly dispelled my fears. "Your father never believed that for a second. What he did assume was that _we_"—he indicated the three of them and the rest of the family who were waiting for us up at the house—"were the murderers. He came here, without any thought for his own safety, intent on rescuing you."

My mouth dropped open, and I stared up toward the house in dismay. After my display of vampire aggression, he'd probably changed his mind and decided that Iwas the killer after all.

"Don't worry, Bella. Carlisle has explained to him about the nomadic vampires. He knows we weren't lying and that noneof us were involved," Jasper added, asking me permission with his expression to help me with my mood. I nodded, gratefully accepting the wave of calm he sent to wrap around me like a soothing cloak.

"Ready?" Edward asked after a few minutes had passed, and I sighed. Then straightening my shoulders, I turned toward the house.

"Ready," I replied, feeling anything but.

With Edward's arm placed firmly around my shoulders and Jasper using his talent to bolster my control, we made our way inside.

Stepping beneath the broken timbers and sagging roofline where the French doors had once stood, I cringed, appalled at the damage I'd done in my haste to get away. Glass crunched beneath our feet, but I could see that someone had made a start on the clean-up and repairs. The electrical wiring that had been exposed when the siding came away from the walls had been tied up out of the way, and broken pieces of door, wall, and roof were stacked to the side.

It didn't make me feel any better, and I wanted to run away and hide. But I'd tried that already, and it didn't work.

Falling back on a human reflex, I took a deep breath for courage but then flinched, smelling both Charlie's incredibly appetizing scent and the awful aroma of wolf.

"Why are the wolves here?" I murmured.

"Your father called them before he came over…as back-up." Edward shrugged, his expression rueful.

It made sense, and I was relieved that Charlie had shown at least a little self-preservation, though he really should have waited until they'd arrived before bursting in on a household of potentially murderous vampires. Not that the Cullens were dangerous, of course…only me.

Sighing, I took a few more breaths to try and acclimatize myself to the various scents. When I was as sure as I could be that I wouldn't lose it again, I nodded to Edward and we made our way through to the living room where I saw Charlie, Sam, and Jake's dad, Billy, waiting with Carlisle and the rest of the family. I wasn't overly surprised that Jake wasn't present and was more than a little relieved. The situation was stressful enough without him adding to the angst.

My vampire senses told me there were wolves waiting just outside…not that I minded. As long as my dad was safe—from me and any other dangers that might be lurking—that was all that mattered.

"Dad, I'm so sorry," I cried at the same time as he called my name.

"No…please don't apologize." He shook his head but didn't move any closer, staying on the far side of the room near to the opening into the foyer—or what was left of it. He was flanked by Cullens and Quileutes who clearly weren't taking any chances. The tension in the room was palpable, but Charlie seemed determined to make allowances for the way I'd behaved.

"I told you I didn't want to make things any harder for you than they already are, Bells, but then I did, coming here early before you'd had a chance to prepare. But I was afraid for your safety." He shrugged, and I sent him a smile of gratitude.

"They warned me," he continued, gesturing to the Cullens. "But this whole newborn vampire thing is a lot to get my head around."

"Mine, too, at times," I admitted ruefully. "I thought I had everything under control, but I just…lost it."

"How are you feeling now, Bella?" Carlisle asked, and I smiled wanly. My throat burned at Charlie's scent, but it was manageable, and I felt my shattered confidence returning.

"I've just…hunted." I waved vaguely toward the outside, embarrassed to have to admit such a thing in front of Charlie and Billy…the girl who couldn't kill a fish now living off the blood of wild animals that I ran down and killed with my bare hands. "Edward and Jasper are helping me, so yeah…I'm good."

It was getting late, and in a futile attempt to bring some normality back to the situation, I asked, "So…have you eaten, Dad?"

He shook his head, and I sniffed, checking to see if the lasagna was still edible. It smelled all right, so I gestured in the direction of the dining room.

"I cooked lasagna and made a salad…garlic bread, too. There's enough for Billy and Sam…if you're hungry…" I trailed off, unsure of the etiquette regarding wolves and vampires dining together, not that we'd be eating, of course.

"That would be great thanks, Bella," Billy answered and began wheeling his chair toward the dining room that was clearly visible thanks to a fairly large hole where one of the walls had collapsed. "It's good to see you." He smiled at me. "And I'm really glad to know that you're…okay," he added, changing direction at the last minute and coming closer to where I stood. Jasper reacted instantly, moving rapidly to block Billy's path with Emmett coming alongside him for extra protection.

"Hey…I'm not going to hurt her," Billy cried indignantly.

"No…it's not me, it's _you_ their protecting," I muttered, ducking my head and leaning into Edward's comforting embrace. "Though I don't think you need to worry, guys," I addressed Jasper and Emmett. "He smells pretty wolfy to me."

Jasper sniffed and stepped back beside me, but I knew he was still on high alert.

"Wolfy, hey?" Billy smiled and rolled a little closer, eyeing my guards tentatively. "I knew I had to have the gene…just too old for it to activate, I suppose."

"And a good thing, too," Charlie interjected, shooting me a reassuring smile. "Bad enough having all these young fellas bursting out of their skin…I don't know if I could have coped if you and Harry had joined the pack as well."

"How is Harry?" I asked, following a safe distance behind when Charlie, Sam and Billy made their way through to the, thankfully, still intact though slightly dust-covered dining room. It took a moment for the seating arrangements to be decided. But eventually, Charlie and the other visitors took a seat at one end near the exit to the foyer while I took the seat at the furthest end with the Cullens arrayed in between, Edward still glued to my side.

"Harry's going to be okay," Billy answered my question when everyone was settled. "Isn't he, doc?" We all looked to Carlisle for confirmation.

"Yes, it's looking that way, and Seth's healing rapidly also," he answered the next question I'd intended to ask. Breathing a sigh of relief, I gave Edward a faint smile in response to the way he'd begun to soothingly stroke my arm.

I let Esme and Alice serve up the dinner which, to my relief, hadn't been ruined by the delay. It seemed safest for me to stay where I was and focus on staying calm and in control.

"Can you please let Seth know how sorry I am for hurting him?" I asked both Billy and Sam a little later. "I'd like to tell him myself…when I can."

"Don't worry about Seth," Billy chuckled. "He's enjoying all the attention. Besides, he thinks you're a hero and wants to _thank_ you."

"Thank me? For what?" Everyone but Edward mirrored my surprised expression.

"He credits you for saving his father's life," Edward explained, earning a raised eyebrow from Billy and a knowing look from Sam. "If you hadn't frightened him so badly—inadvertently, of course—he wouldn't have had the heart attack, and the blocked valve might not have been discovered until it was too late."

"Oh…okay. I hadn't thought of that," I murmured, relieved that something good had come out of the potentially disastrous situation.

"So, it's true, then," Sam addressed Edward. "You're the mind reader."

"What?" Charlie dropped his knife and fork and stared at Edward. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, he is," I replied and went on to explain about Edward's, Alice's and Jasper's supernatural talents, which led to him wanting to know more about my own unique ability. It wasn't the typical dinnertime conversation I was used to having with Charlie, but at least we were talking.

The conversation returned to how Sue was coping with Seth, at home recovering from multiple broken bones—I winced at that—and Harry in the hospital awaiting surgery, which I gathered the Cullens were insisting on paying for. I knew the Quileutes were a proud people, and I hoped they would accept the assistance.

I was relieved to hear that Sue's cousin, Linda, had come to stay so that she could lend a hand. Charlie had met her at the hospital when he dropped in to visit Harry on his way to the station to check out the autopsy reports for the murdered hikers.

"Linda's been widowed a little while now," Billy explained. "And she's a very nice lady."

My dad shot his friend a look at the statement, and I felt Edward move in his seat beside me, his hand rising to cover what seemed suspiciously like a smile.

"What?" I murmured Edward's way, but he just shook his head and mouthed, _Later_.

When I looked up, Charlie was scowling at Edward who had schooled his features to show polite respect. I guessed I'd have to wait to find out whatever he'd heard in Charlie's thoughts.

I'd run out of time to make dessert from scratch and had to do with store-bought apple pie and ice cream. Despite that, those that were eating clearly enjoying it when the topic of the nomads was raised.

"So, let me get this straight," Charlie asked, sitting forward with his hands clasped in front of him on the table. "You're telling me that there are literally _thousands_ of serial-killing vampires the world over—_feeding _on humans whenever they please—and you've never tried to do anything to stop them?"

The silence that followed his question was uncomfortable to say the least, with Carlisle thankfully stepping in to answer. I roughly knew what he was going to say, but my curiosity was piqued as to how he would justify behavior that seemed so at odds with the way the Cullens chose to live their lives…their beliefs and values.

"I've looked at this dilemma many times over the years and from every imaginable angle," Carlisle began, his expression somber. "We all have. But as you're aware, our kind is governed by an elite force of vampires…ancient…powerful."

"These Volturi you spoke of," Sam interjected, and Carlisle nodded.

"They might not move quickly—time means something a little different when you've lived for thousands of years—but they monitor what's going on in the world. If I had turned vigilante at any time in the past three hundred years—hunting down and destroying our own kind to stop them from killing humans—I would have _myself _been hunted and destroyed long ago."

"But what about now that there's a whole group of you with the same ideals?" Charlie asked, his tone insistent, the cop in him not ready to give up without a fight. It was his _job_ to stop murders from occurring or to at least track down the perpetrators.

"It is an ethical dilemma," Carlisle admitted. "But not even the seven of us…twelve with the Denalis…would stand a chance against the Volturi guard."

Carlisle went on to detail the extraordinary and downright terrifying talents the three ruling Volturi leaders and their guard had at their disposal.

"What about this new shield of Bella's? Would that shift the balance of power?" Charlie asked, and then his expression grew alarmed as he seemed to realize what he was intimating. "Not that I'm saying I want my daughter in a fight with anyone…let alone these vampires with supernatural tracking and killing abilities."

"It's okay, Dad," I assured him. "My talent is too unpredictable to be of much use. I'm just as likely to hurt the ones I'm trying to protect," I muttered contritely.

"We don't know whether the guard's talents will work against Bella," Edward explained, practically pulling me onto his lap with the distress he couldn't hide at the thought of me going into battle.

I didn't have to be a mind reader to understand his motivation as I felt the exact same way at the thought of Edward doing anything to put himself at risk.

"But none of us has any intention of putting her in harm's way to find out," Jasper added dryly, and I shot him a grateful smile.

"Glad to hear it," Charlie muttered gruffly. "I can see it's not as simple as I thought. How do you guys get away with it?" he addressed Sam.

"When the shape shifting ability first appeared and our ancestors attacked the vampires that threatened our people, this region was sparsely populated. Not many vampires came through here, so the one or two that we destroyed probably weren't noted by these Volturi." He looked to Carlisle who nodded his agreement of Sam's assessment.

"But now the population is much larger, and we have international media that report unusual events,"—he shot Edward a pointed look, and I felt his flinch—"so things might be different. A lot of vampires seem to be visiting this region. The three we've been tracking these last few weeks aren't the first to cross our borders…just the most determined to stay in the area."

"What did you do about the last ones?" Charlie asked, his tone urgent.

"We chased them away," Sam admitted, looking uncomfortable.

"To go kill people somewhere else?" Charlie didn't bother to hide his outrage. "I thought you said that wolves are a match for vampires and that you could destroy these creatures…no offense." He shot an apologetic glance my way, and I shrugged, curious to hear the answer.

"We can…if there are enough of us…and if we can catch them." Sam grimaced. "There were only Paul and me the first time we had to chase a vampire away from the tribe and the town. Now there are a lot more of us, but the ones we've been hunting recently are…_evasive_. We chased them out of the county, so hopefully that's the last we'll see of them."

"The last _you'll _see of them, maybe," Charlie retorted bitterly. "They just murdered a millworker over in Kitsap County, and I'll be damned if that's okay with me!"

**_~OB~_**

**_Hmmm…I don't think Charlie's going to be quite so willing to 'turn a blind eye' this time around. Any ideas on where you'd like to see things go from here?_**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	45. Vigilante

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I finally own my very own copy of Breaking Dawn Pt 1, which I love with a passion. What an awesome movie!_**

**_Thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers for your wonderful, encouraging comments…though I did stir up a bit of a storm with Charlie's declaration last chapter. I'd never thought of Charlie as a vamp, but you guys have given me some definite ideas. ;)_**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro. I'm honoured to have you both beta'ing for me. And thank you to Content 1 for your ongoing friendship and support. (Her story, Sins Of My Past, rocks by the way – as does Full Moon Rising – if you're looking for some amazing reads.)_**

**_Thanks to ElizabellaLove and parkesy23 for reviewing every chapter…aww, that was very sweet of you._**

**_Special acknowledgement to Draed. After laughing myself silly, I just had to use her "You have the right to remain…" line from her review. You'll see what I mean…It's priceless. :D_**

**_Updated: Monday, March 19th 2012  
>Words: 4681<em>**

Chapter 45

Vigilante

EPOV

The silence that followed Charlie's declaration was filled with tension, echoed in the thoughts of all those that sat around the table. From Jasper's assessment of Bella's emotions, I knew that she was feeling a combination of pride and confusion. I imagined she must admire her dad for his passionate desire to uphold the law and protect human life but was concerned as to how to help him adjust to this new, _inhuman_ reality he had inadvertently become a part of.

"Cool," Emmett broke the silence, and I winced at the direction of his thoughts. "A vigilante vampire cop…that would be awesome. As long as you could stay one step ahead of the Volturi, or your career wouldn't last very long."

"You'd have to wait the year or so after your change before you could start policing…until your newborn bloodlust was manageable, of course," Jasper added, sounding sincere, though I could hear his ulterior motive. "Or you'd be more danger to the innocent than the killers you were hunting."

"Whoa…what are you guys insinuating?" Sam interjected.

"That if I want to beat them, I'd have to join them," Charlie offered drily, placating Sam with a hand to his forearm.

"All right…I get the picture. It's not that simple," he continued. "You guys can't go hunting your own kind, or you'll be hunted down yourselves and destroyed." He pictured Bella being run down by a group of red-eyed vampires, and we both flinched at the painful image. Noticing my reaction, he shot me a sympathetic look.

_Never going to let that happen…are we? _He thought my way, and I shook my head slowly and deliberately in agreement.

"The wolf pack can't extend its protective border indefinitely, as the boys are already run ragged keeping the tribe and town safe," Billy added, dismissing Sam's defensive glare with a shrug. "What? It's the truth, and it's not like we've got any secrets left to keep."

"We're not meaning to dismiss what you're saying, Charlie. It has merit, and we do understand your motivation," Carlisle addressed Bella's father, his sober expression giving weight to his words. "The treaty needs to be renegotiated. As far as I'm concerned, there's no reason why we couldn't start working together—my family and the wolf pack—to ensure a wider safety net of protection than currently exists. But there are limits to how public…"

"And how violent," Jasper interjected.

"…our efforts to keep the area free of _traditional_ vampires can be."

"But before we get into that, and just out of curiosity…" Emmett addressed his question to Sam and Billy. "If Charlie decides he wants to become one of us—to amp up his policing powers as well as getting to stay with Bella for, you know…_ever—_would you guys allow it?"

Charlie looked as stunned by Emmett's bombshell as his Quileute friend's, and it took a moment before I could read anything from his thoughts. In the meantime, Bella moved restlessly at my side, and I wished I could lift her into my lap to comfort her…and that I knew what she was thinking.

"Bella?" The parental love in Charlie's eyes and in his thoughts was heartfelt, and I couldn't help but admire the man for the sacrifice he would be willing to make for his daughter. "Would it help if I became like you? Is that what you want?"

Bella was quiet for a long moment and then she swallowed hard. I wondered if she was struggling with her thirst, but Jasper's thoughts told me otherwise.

_She's just moved by his offer…we all are,_ he added wryly.

"No, Dad," she eventually whispered. "You should stay human. I wouldn't want you to have to go through the change. It hurts more than anything you can imagine and lasts for three whole days…I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, let alone someone I love."

I recoiled inwardly at her words and dropped my head.

"Baby, I'm sorry," she whispered, gently stroking the arm that I had wrapped around her.

I shrugged and nuzzled her hair for comfort. "You're only telling the truth."

"Three days," Charlie mused, and we refocused our attention his way. "I'd put up with anything for three days if I thought it was best for you, Bells."

Jasper groaned at the wave of emotion that surged around the table in reaction to Charlie's words. If it were possible, there wouldn't have been a dry eye in the room, but considering the company, only Sam's and Billy's eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"It's not just that." Bella's voice trembled. "The bloodlust is pretty crazy, and I've heard that it's not much fun being a vampire if you don't have a mate. Forever is a long time to be alone."

"Well…it's not something that has to be decided this instant," Charlie offered with a reassuring smile, his thoughts going hazy. I wasn't sure if he was deliberately trying to block me from reading his mind or if it was a subconscious response, but I couldn't tell if he was seriously considering becoming a vampire or not. What I did know was that the man loved his daughter, and he was telling the truth when he said he would do anything for her.

I did not expect him to ever fully forgive me for what I'd done to her. But in that moment, I decided that I would do whatever it took to prove to Charlie that I was worthy of his precious daughter.

The conversation turned to treaty matters, and after relatively minimal debate, it was decided that we would begin to actively assist the wolf pack in their hunt for the nomadic vampires that were harassing the district. Or so the men in the room assumed. Rose, Alice and Esme viewed the situation from slightly different perspectives.

"You don't think the Volturi will notice a black hole suddenly coming into existence in the northwest corner of the continental US?" Rosalie asked, her comment meeting with quirked brows and curious expressions. "Vampires entering the area but never leaving," she added for clarification.

"I don't believe that will be an issue if we don't spread our net too wide," Jasper mused. "It's not like we can stay in the area for more than ten years without our lack of aging becoming too noticeable, and that's a mere blip in time for the Volturi."

Charlie's brow furrowed. "You'll tell me when you're planning on leaving and where I can find you, I assume?"

"Of course, Dad," Bella responded, rising from her chair as if she were going to go and comfort him, but then sitting back down with a sigh. "I promise I'll never lose touch."

Charlie nodded, his expression once again composed, but I could see him picturing the years ahead…him aging while Bella didn't and her going on without him indefinitely.

"We're not talking about going after _every _vampire that comes into the region, are we?" Esme spoke up, voicing her concern. "I'll do whatever it takes to protect my family, but I can't say I'm comfortable with the idea of killing in cold blood." Esme was the mother of our group, compassionate and tender-hearted above all else regardless of her vampire instincts.

"You don't have to be involved if you don't want to, sweetheart," Carlisle reassured her, concerned for her distress and in agreement with her sentiments, but not wanting to leave the difficult task to the wolves alone. "I'm not comfortable with indiscriminate killing either. I would rather we give a warning, requesting they leave our…_territory _before we take things further."

"So what? We just let them pass through to go on killing in other regions?" Sam demanded.

"Which brings us back to our initial dilemma," Billy mused.

Sighing, Charlie sat forward. "We can't destroy all the vampires that feed off humans—not without starting the equivalent of a war against supernatural beings, putting everyone in danger—but we can protect the humans in our area. I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of giving these nomads the option to move on either," he addressed Sam. "But I think we need—_I _need—to accept that that is the best we can do."

Sam glowered. "Unless we intercept them trying to harm a human, then all bets are off."

The atmosphere in the room was understandably tense, but no one contradicted Sam's assertion.

"Maybe it would help if you think of vampires as the top of the food chain?" Emmett suggested in what I considered an ill-conceived attempt to lighten the mood. "I mean, I love zebras and antelopes as much as the next guy, but nobody thinks all the lions in Africa should be hunted down and destroyed because they kill them to survive."

"Zebras and antelopes aren't human," Sam muttered drily.

"Neither are vampires," Alice surprised everyone by adding. "What?" she cried at the shocked looks. "I'm not saying we shouldn't do anything about the ones threatening _our _humans if they won't move on when we warn them, but vampires aren't the only dangers to humanity. What about all the human serial killers and murderers…warlords, slave traders, drug dealers, sweat-shop owners, pedophiles, tyrants, dictators? Do you want me to keep going?"

"No, I think you've made your point," I answered for everyone, their sober thoughts confirming my statement.

A few moments of silence followed Alice's assessment, and I wasn't the only one of my family considering the implications of her words. We gave to charities across the spectrum, but we might need to broaden our support for those in need worldwide.

"So…the local trouble. We all agree that's our responsibility?" Sam asked, and we nodded in unison.

I kept quiet as our various abilities and talents were discussed in relation to what we could bring to the hunt collectively and as individuals. Charlie and I were in complete agreement that his daughter should be kept out of it, which meant that I would have to stay behind also.

Bella, typically, had other ideas.

"What do you mean, I can't come?" she demanded when Jasper vetoed her suggestion that she might be able to use her shield to stun the nomads until we could offer our ultimatum.

"I'm sorry, Bella, but there are too many variables in a combat situation," he insisted.

"I'll practice more so that I've got better control, and I'll do as I'm told, I promise."

I winced at her pleading tone but agreed wholeheartedly with Jasper's steadfast views.

"There's a strong chance that we could come across humans during the hunt," he explained, his tone sympathetic but firm. "And I _know _how much you don't want to accidentally hurt or kill anybody."

Bella flinched and then looked to Alice.

"If the wolves are involved, I won't be able to see if we're going to run across any humans. She gave an apologetic shrug. "Even without them, I'd have a hard time being one hundred percent certain due to all the decisions that would get made on the spot. Battles are _not_ my favorite thing in the world," she concluded ruefully, and Bella sighed, resting more heavily against me.

"I have to be able to do something to help," she muttered disconsolately, and to my surprise, Billy came up with a solution.

"The wolves get mighty hungry when they're out running and hunting, and you're a terrific cook, Bella. You could have a feast ready for when the tired and _very _hungry troops return."

"I'll stay with you," I reminded her, looking deep into her beautiful eyes and doing my utmost to mesmerize her into accepting the inevitable. Jasper subtly utilized his talent to reinforce my efforts, and a soft smile appeared on Bella's face.

"You can be my kitchen-hand," she teased, but then her frown returned and she shook her head.

"Hey, Jasper. No fair with the mood-control thingy…or you with your googly eyes," she admonished me, and I stifled a groan.

_Googly eyes? _Emmett mentally chuckled. _Oh, man…you are sooo going to get it for that._

I flipped him off at top speed so that Bella's father wouldn't see my hand move.

"Children," Esme hissed sub-vocally, and I shot her a bland look.

"Edward, I can't ask you to stay behind when your family would be putting themselves in danger." Bella's words galvanized my attention, and I mentally kicked myself for getting distracted.

"There's no way we would leave you home by yourself," Carlisle explained before I had a chance to say the exact same thing.

"Edward wouldn't be much use to us anyway," Emmett added, and I grimaced even though I couldn't actually fault his logic…this time. "He'd be so worried about you that he'd end up being a liability to the rest of us and would probably get himself hurt."

"I don't know if I'd go _quite _that far," I grumbled quietly.

"Hey…I'm just saying it like it is, bro," Emmett protested and then widened his eyes to emphasize his mental message. _I'm trying to help…unless you want to leave Bella behind or have her insist on coming when we all know that would be a really bad idea._

Nodding in agreement, I shot him a quick smile of thanks. I just wished he didn't have to make me sound like such a wimp.

"Is that true?" Bella asked, and I reached to sooth the creases from her brow with my fingers.

"I'm afraid so, love," I admitted gladly, reminding myself that it didn't matter how it appeared, as long as Bella was safe.

"We're a team from now on…where you go, I go…where you stay, I stay."

Bella's long dark lashes fluttered adorably, and it was my turn to be completely mesmerized. Forgetting all about the location and our eclectic audience, I reached down and brushed my lips softly over hers, moaning a little when our mouths met and gently moved together.

Hungry for more, I deepened the kiss, and six vampires, one wolf pack leader, a Quileute elder, and Bella's father all cleared their throats at the same time. Quickly—and guiltily—we sprang apart.

"Sorry," Bella whispered, ducking her head to hide her face behind her hair.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Your dad might be old, but he remembers what it was like to be a newlywed." Charlie's tone was understanding, and I could tell the gentle wink he sent Bella went a long way toward easing her embarrassment.

"Thank you," I mouthed to my new father-in-law when Bella relaxed against my shoulder.

_You just take care of my little girl, _he responded, his expression bland but his thoughts intensely fierce. _I don't know about this vampire mating thing, but I can tell she loves you, so you better make sure you don't break her heart._

Swallowing hard, I nodded, and he sat back and crossed his arms, his thoughts once again becoming hazy.

I wasn't sure what I thought of the idea, but I had to admit…Bella's father would make one hell of a vampire.

_~OB~_

Over the next few days our lives took on a new rhythm. It was hardly surprising that I discovered I absolutely _loved_ being a married man.

The mornings were spent with the family, as we worked with Bella to help her develop control of her shield. We were standing firm on her not being ready to engage in a free running hunt over potentially wide-reaching territory, but after the events of the weekend, her learning to manage her truly awesome gift was a high priority for all of us.

Bella was extremely motivated and made rapid progress. By the third day, she could switch her shield on and off at will and regulate its strength with increasing accuracy. But without the emotional stimulus of fear or anger, the charge she produced was nowhere near as powerful as when I was under attack or when she'd been overcome with the bloodlust.

_She has an intense aversion to causing any of us pain,_ Jasper mused, and I nodded, a soft smile at the evidence of my beloved's caring nature curving my lips.

_But I have every confidence that it will be a different story if we are under threat, _he continued.

"You two want to let me in on the discussion," Bella groused good-naturedly, and I grimaced.

"Sorry," I murmured, drawing her into my arms, seeking forgiveness. Some habits were hard to break, and I kept forgetting my promise not to engage in silent communications that affected her when she was present.

Jasper quickly repeated his comments aloud, and Bella nodded thoughtfully.

"What is it, love?" I asked when Jasper called an end to our training session and went in search of Alice.

It took a moment for Bella to answer, but I waited patiently. I was learning to give her time to consider her words and not automatically assume that she was shutting me out.

"I don't think I'll have any trouble using my shield if I need it to protect someone I care about…even a stranger, for that matter, if they're an innocent person in danger."

"But?"

"But I'm not sure I could just…_attack_ someone unprovoked."

"You don't have to," I assured her, stroking her back soothingly.

"I know," she murmured, snuggling into my embrace. "But I feel bad because, if I'm honest, I'm a little relieved that I don't have to…_kill _people when everyone else is committed to helping."

My thinking was probably horribly old-fashioned, but I was glad she felt that way. I liked that Bella was similar to Esme, a woman I'd admired above all others for a very long time…fiercely protective of her family and friends but never bloodthirsty or aggressive just for the sake of it. Rose, on the other hand, worried me at times with the desire for vengeance that had followed her into this life, not that she felt any toward our intended victims. Her lack of enthusiasm for our current endeavor had more to do with fear for the family's safety than concern regarding the ethics of the situation.

The rest of us had all taken time to examine our beliefs and motivation with the potential for battle looming ahead. Jasper might have a military background, and I'd had my years of rebellion, but none of us relished the thought of killing in cold blood.

The debate continued over whether we should confront the current nomadic vampires preying off the humans in the area and give them the option to leave immediately or hunt them down and destroy them in retribution for the lives they'd already taken. The younger, more impetuous wolves were eager to embark on a seek-and-destroy mission as soon as possible as they expected our vampire talents would give them the edge they needed. Fortunately, Sam, Billy, and Charlie were taking a more reasonable approach. While I knew it galled them to operate on a "catch and release" policy—hunting down any vampires that came into the area with our combined talent and numbers and then escorting them to the as-yet-to-be-decided boundary of _our _territory—neither did they want to see us bring down the firestorm of death and destruction that would occur if we aroused the ire of the Volturi.

For now, the discussion was moot as everything had gone quiet and no current trails scented. Our hope was that, having been chased by an angry wolf pack, the nomads had left of their own accord. But without Alice's visions to confirm or deny, we maintained vigilance, patrolling those areas not covered by the wolves and keeping in contact via cell phone with Sam.

That was a visual image that still brought a smile to my face and occasionally had Emmett in stitches.

"So…let me get this straight," he'd asked of Sam, his expression serious. "You guys have to tie shorts to your calves; otherwise when you phase back to human form, you're buck naked? And you keep your cell phones in little pouches you tie around your necks?"

Sam, Paul, and Jacob, who'd been visiting to discuss strategy, had not been overly impressed by Emmett's rollicking laughter. I was glad I'd held it together—though I admit to smirking—as the lecture Em received from Esme when our guests departed was not one I would have enjoyed being directed my way.

I wasn't sure if it was Esme's stinging words or a much appreciated burst of good sense, but to Bella's and my relief, Emmett came to us with his idea for Charlie before broaching it with the man in question.

"I think your dad becoming one of us is a really good idea," he said. "He could single-handedly transform Vampiredom as we know it."

"What are you talking about, Em?" Bella queried. I was too busy trying to decide whether or not Bella would be offended if I laughed at his suggestion.

"Just imagine him—a vampire crossed with the Terminator—_especially_ if he ends up with some freaky powers like yours. He's got this red-eyed vamp up against the wall by his throat, and he says. 'You have the right to convert to vegetarianism and live off the blood of animals, or you _will _be burned to a crisp and your ashes scattered.' Pretty cool, huh?"

I snickered. I couldn't help it, and Bella muttered "boys" and turned and walked away, shaking her head.

_~OB~_

We spent our afternoons in a similar fashion to how we'd spent our time before getting married…reading, studying, playing music together, and just enjoying being part of the family. The only difference now was that occasionally we would disappear for a while…needing alone time. Needing…_us._

We changed our schedule a little to accommodate Charlie's visits and hunted in the late afternoon to give Bella as much insurance against a repeat of the earlier fiasco as possible. To make things easier, Bella's father always called before coming over and waited in his car until he was given the all clear to enter the house.

I wasn't sure how Bella would take the added precautions, but she was completely supportive, determined not to put Charlie at risk.

Bella's happiness at being able to cook her father's favorite dinners and spend time with him each evening was contagious, and I found myself looking forward to our culinary forays…despite the atrocious aromas. I didn't even mind that she liked to catch up with Jake for a few minutes when he and the other pack members came over to discuss strategy or practice fighting techniques under Jasper's guidance. Bella made it clear to him that their continued friendship was dependent on his accepting and being polite about all the different changes that had occurred in her life…marriage to me in particular. He still struggled with the way things had turned out, but I could tell he was trying to be understanding and on his best behavior for Bella's sake. Consequently, I did my best not to provoke him—not that I was ever far from my wife's side when he was around.

Smiling, I reminded myself that I was _never _far from Bella's side…full stop.

The nights were astonishing…our time to be alone together for hour after glorious, passion-drenched, intimate, erotic, playful, passionate, love-making-filled hour.

We bought a bigger, _sturdier_ bed than the one we'd destroyed. Bella's replica furniture, possessions, and mementos now took pride of place in my old—now our shared—room. It also had a bed, a large wrought-iron monstrosity that Alice had picked out and decorated, though Bella was still shy of using it unless the rest of the family was away from the house.

I didn't mind. Whenever…wherever…Bella wanted to make love was just fine with me, and I marveled that I'd somehow survived for almost a century without her in my life.

Esme tried to keep the surprise hidden from me, but I worked out that she was planning to renovate and extend an old stone cottage located a few miles from the house as a wedding present. It was a thoughtful gift for a couple of newlywed vampires, but I couldn't help wondering how much of her enthusiasm for the project had to do with the basement room being freed up when we moved out.

Emmett grumbled about our unwillingness to set up a roster for the blessedly sound-proofed room's use. But a quick word in his ear, reminding him of exactly what I'd put up with for a _decade_ when he and Rose were newlyweds and how patient I'd been, had silenced his complaint.

"Ahhh…I'm just joshing with you, bro," he admitted good-naturedly. "Bella is the best thing that could have happened to you, and I'm just so glad to see you're finally getting some. All that vicarious peeping tom stuff must have been getting old anyway."

"Emmett," I groaned, glad that Bella was distracted by an intense discussion with the girls about which cause she was interested in supporting first and the merits of the various charitable organizations.

_Seriously, Edward,_ he thought, his expression sobering. _I know what you did at school was wrong, and you still beat yourself up pretty bad about almost killing your mate-slash-singer, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did. If you'd managed not to attack her, you probably would have taken off, afraid to ever see her again. Or you'd have put the two of you through years of unnecessary anguish in some horrible, angst-ridden, on-again-off-again, "I want to be with you, but I shouldn't, so I'll torture us both" scenario and driven us all mad…Bella included. She loves you, dude, and the girl was meant to be a vampire. This is the best outcome for everyone, as far as I can see._

I didn't share his opinion with Bella….not that I thought she'd necessarily disagree. But she seemed so happy and was adjusting incredibly well to her new life. I was a little afraid to see the regret return to her eyes at the reminder of what I'd done, especially if she _didn't _agree with Emmett's assessment that it had worked out for the best. Either way, I wasn't ready to let myself off the hook so easily, so I continued doing what I'd done since finding Bella alive but changing on a mattress on the floor of Alice's mysteriously necessary hidden room. I put her first…her needs, her desires, her everything.

It wasn't difficult to do.

_~OB~_

Bella and I were engaged in our favorite pastime when the call came. She'd not long finished bringing me indescribable pleasure performing an act that I'd never imagined engaging in…or that Bella would enjoy. But she seemed to like taking me into her beautiful mouth—softly encasing me with her lips and sucking and stroking me with her tongue until I came apart at the seams—as much as I guiltily admitted to enjoy being there. I told her repeatedly that she didn't have to do that for me, and she always answered the same way.

"Stop being a spoil sport, Edward, and let me have my fun."

Everything we did together was fun, but oh…when she did that, it gave whole new meaning to the word.

I was busily and very, _very _happily returning the favor, when Carlisle's cell phone rang.

"What is it, baby?" Bella breathed huskily when I stopped what I was doing and groaned against the soft skin of her inner thigh.

"It's Sam. The nomads have returned. One of his patrols has picked up their scents near the river. He's asked us to join them just north of the town."

Bella moved so quickly from the bed, I would have face-planted if it wasn't for my supernatural reflexes. She was half-dressed and heading for the door by the time I disentangled myself from the sheets and rolled over.

"Sweetheart? What's wrong?" I quickly pulled on some clothes and caught up with her half-way up the stairs.

"Charlie's meeting Waylon, and they're going fishing today in his boat…_on the river_. He leaves early; in fact he may have left already!"

_~OB~_

**_Yep…an evil cliffy, but this was a transition chapter, and I wanted you guys to know there's some action and drama ahead. _**

**_The reviews have dropped right off for Once Bitten (which is okay…I'll keep writing), but if you've got the time, I'd love to hear what you think._**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_PS…I'm off to see The Hunger Games this week. I couldn't put the books down, though I found them very disturbing (kids killing kids…argh!) Am I the only one who thinks the guy they've picked for Peeta looks totally wrong for the part?_**


	46. Blindsided

_**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I'm just tweaking the Twiverse…again.**_

_**Thanks so much for all the encouragement and support for last chapter. It's great to know you guys are still out there reading.**_

_**Thanks to my betas, Chloe Cougar and SqueakyZorro, for all your help, and to Content1 for prereading…when I remember to send the chapters through in time!**_

_**Special thanks to daydreamergr for giving Once Bitten its 2400th review. :D**_

_**Updated: Saturday, March 31st, 2012  
>Words: 4436<strong>_

Chapter 46

Blindsided

BPOV

"Charlie's meeting Waylon, and they're going fishing today in his boat…_on the river_," I cried, images of my dad and his fisherman buddy being torn apart by ravenous vampires spurring me on. "He leaves early; in fact, he may have left already!"

"Wait!" Edward called, flying up the stairs after me. "Your father's not alone, remember? The wolves are guarding him."

"I know…I just need to talk to him and make sure he's okay, but I left my cell up in our room," I explained as we tore across the living room together.

"It's all right, Bella, I've got your father on the phone." Carlisle stepped onto the landing at the top of the stairs, halting our mad dash. He met us in the middle of the stairway, and passed me the cell.

"Dad!" I cried. "Are you all right? Where are you?"

"It's okay, Bells. I'm just on my way to the river now. I'm running a little late." Relief at hearing my father's voice caused me to slump against Edward's side…until I realized what Charlie had said.

"What? No! You need to turn around!" I shouted into the phone. "You can't go to the river…the nomads are there!"

"Whoa…calm down." Charlie's soothing tone had the opposite effect on my nerves, my fear escalating at his typically nonchalant, "I've got everything under control, I'm a policeman," approach to danger.

Not _this _danger.

"I'm not going to calm down until I know you're safe, and you _won't _be safe if you go near the river. It's too dangerous, Dad! Leave it to the Cullens and the wolf packs."

"Not happening, Bells. Not until I check on Waylon." Charlie's answer, while unsurprising, was still infuriating. "Don't worry, Jake's riding shotgun…well, _running_ shotgun, if you know what I mean. We'll be at the boatyard in a minute, and I'll grab Waylon and get him out of there. Once I've dropped him home, I'll come over…if you're okay for me to visit."

"More than okay," I assured him, wanting, no _needing _to see him with my own eyes.

My control was improving rapidly as long as I was mentally prepared. I'd been practicing holding my breath for long periods, so I could be around my dad when I was thirsty…or _thirstier_ than if I'd just fed. It wasn't a comfortable feeling—the whole not-breathing thing—and it was a pain when it came to communicating. But I was getting quite good at functioning without a sense of smell.

Esme appeared at the top of the stairs and gestured to Edward, another cell phone in her hand. "It's Emmett…he's at the boatyard," she mouthed, her bleak expression grabbing my attention.

"Hold on for a minute, Dad," I ordered, covering the mouth piece, as Edward took the phone from Esme.

"We were too late," I heard Emmett say, and a sob caught in my throat. "Charlie's friend is dead. They drank him dry."

"Oh, God," I whispered, the phone slipping from my fingers. Edward grabbed it before it could fall more than a few inches.

"Charlie, it's Edward." He spoke urgently into the phone. "You need to turn around and come straight here. Carlisle and Esme will meet you on the road." He gestured to them, and they were down the stairs, out of the house and on their way to protect my dad before Edward finished his next sentence.

"I'm sorry, but we were too late to save your friend. There's nothing you can do for him now, and it looks like there's going to be a confrontation. It would be best if you came here and stayed with Bella and me…until we know more."

Charlie rarely swore, but I wasn't surprised by the language he used in response to Edward's terrible news. He'd known Waylon for over thirty years.

"All right…I'm on my way," I heard him say, tires squealing as he turned his cruiser around. "Just keep Bella safe for me."

Groaning, I wanted to reach through the phone and shake him. _I _wasn't the one at risk, my newborn state and freaky talent making me virtually indestructible. It was my dad who was frighteningly fragile in the face of this supernatural enemy.

While we waited in the living room for Charlie to arrive, Edward got more answers from Emmett and Jasper, who were on the trail of the killers. The couples had been out hunting when they'd received the call from Jared, Sam's beta, that the nomads' scent had been picked up along the river. Knowing Charlie's plans, they'd gone straight to the boatyard…and found Waylon.

"I didn't think they'd come back after being chased off by that patrol last week," I heard Jasper tell Edward over the phone. His opinion had been shared by the rest of the family.

Most nomadic vampires were opportunistic and preferred to keep a low profile. They usually targeted humans whose disappearance was less likely to be questioned or arouse attention: the homeless, vagrants or reclusive mountain wanderers. Not only had these hunters returned to an area where they knew they would come up against serious opposition—not normally an issue for vampires, unless they encroached on another coven's territory—they seemed to be deliberately targeting humans who _would _be missed.

"It's like they're toying with us," Emmett interjected. "Deliberately provoking a fight."

"Do you think they worked out we're protecting Charlie and targeted him…going after his friend?" I asked, coming to stand beside Edward so they would hear me.

"It's unlikely," Jasper replied, his voice amazingly steady despite the fact that he was running flat out through the forest. "But if they keep coming back, they're sure to figure it out."

"What do you mean, keep coming back?" I demanded, grabbing the phone from Edward. "I thought you guys were going to finish them this time…or drive them away for good."

"If we can catch them," Jasper grumbled. "It's like they've got a talent for evasion."

"Gotta go," Emmett called, his voice sounding muffled. "It looks like the wolves have caught them in a pincer move, and the fun's about to begin."

He hung up, and I carefully placed the phone on a nearby coffee table, resisting the urge to send it smashing through the wall.

"Fun!" I muttered, pacing before the huge picture window overlooking the front yard while waiting for Charlie to arrive. Pacing wasn't typical behavior for a vampire, but I'd done it whenever I was stressed as a human, and the trait had carried over into my new life.

After a few minutes had passed, Edward caught me by the shoulder on one of my rapid passes, and I let myself be drawn into his embrace. It reminded me that not thirty minutes earlier we'd been wrapped in an altogether different embrace, making love and completely absorbed in each other. Determined not to become distracted, I refocused my thoughts on the present, though I couldn't resist drawing comfort from Edward's soothing caresses. But then he tensed, and I clutched at his shirt in alarm.

"What?" I demanded, and he smiled reassuringly.

"They're nearly here. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

I nodded, mentally, emotionally, and physically taking control of myself until I had my erratic vampire nature locked down tight. I didn't think I'd need to resort to holding my breath other than for what I had planned for Charlie's arrival.

"I want to hug my dad." I told Edward, and his eyes widened. "I'll hold my breath, and be really careful…but he needs me, and I need to do this."

"Okay," he agreed. "We'll meet him outside, and I'll stay right beside you."

"Thanks." I managed a faint smile before burrowing into his arms. We stayed that way until we heard the sound of Charlie's car coming down the driveway.

"Where are Carlisle and Esme?" I asked, not seeing them when Edward and I went out to meet the cruiser. "I thought they were going to escort Charlie here for safety."

"They stayed with him until he reached the end of the road, and then they went to help the others," Edward explained, his arm wrapped securely around my shoulders.

Charlie parked the car and alighted, his face drawn with grief and anger.

"Oh, Dad," I whispered, catching his scent but remaining virtually unaffected by it…not that I was about to take any risks. Holding my breath, I gestured to Edward to speak for me.

"Charlie, Bella wants to give you a hug. She's holding her breath so she won't be bothered by your scent, but she can't talk for the moment."

"Oh…okay." Charlie's eyebrows rose, but he stood his ground as we slowly approached.

I wanted to tell him that it was okay and that I had the bloodlust under control, but all I could offer him was a reassuring smile. It was enough, and he opened his arms wide.

"Bella," he murmured hoarsely, and I carefully moved into his embrace with Edward close beside me. Holding still, I let Charlie wrap his too-warm arms around me before very, _very_ gently hugging him in return.

For so long, I'd thought I would never see my dad again, let alone have his arms around me. Overcome by emotion, my shoulders shook as I sobbed silently against his chest.

"I know, sweetheart, I know," he rasped. I got the sense that he was trying to rock me in his arms like he had when I was a girl…but, of course, I didn't budge. "Let's go inside, shall we?" he suggested after a few moments, and I nodded, walking with his arm around my waist and my hand linked with Edward's.

"We're very sorry about your friend," Edward offered, and Charlie nodded, his jaw tight.

"I should be going after the perps or at least be securing the crime scene…but I can't do a damn thing." He sounded so defeated that I wanted to give him a squeeze to let him know I understood. But I didn't dare…not after all the times I'd unwittingly crushed Edward's hands or ribs. My dad had always seemed so strong and solid to me, but now he felt oddly insubstantial, reminding me just how different vampires were to humans…and how incredibly careful I had to be.

"Do you know what's happening?" Charlie asked, and Edward quickly filled him in on what we'd heard so far.

"So they could be fighting right now." Charlie nodded grimly. "Can you hear them…with your mind-reading thing?"

Edward shook his head, scowling. "They're too far away," he muttered, and I felt bad all over again for keeping him away from the action. Of course, Edward picked up my tension, and while he couldn't read my mind, he was getting extremely adept at reading my emotions.

"My place is here with you, Bella, so please…stop feeling guilty," he murmured, but loud enough for my dad to hear.

"He's right, Bells. You're both our responsibility now, and keeping you safe is our number one priority."

Charlie's words, while a wonderful reflection of his love for me, made me want to scream. As soon as we were inside, I carefully moved away from his side and flitted to the other end of the room.

"Dad, you do realize that with my strength and shield, I could probably take on the nomads single-handedly?" I asked, trying not to sound too exasperated.

Charlie was staring at me wide-eyed, and I realized he'd never seen me move that fast before as I usually sat quietly with Edward and Jasper to either side whenever he visited. Regardless of the added evidence of my superhuman abilities, I thought he was going to argue with me, but then his shoulders drooped.

"Yeah…I guess I know that," he admitted. "But it's not an easy thing to grasp. How about you just humor your old man and pretend that you still need him…okay?"

"Oh, Dad," I cried softly, regretting my reaction to his protectiveness. "Of course I need you…I'll always need you, and I'm so sorry about Waylon. You guys have been friends forever." Turning to Edward who'd come to stand at my side, I couldn't help demanding, "What happened? I thought the wolves were watching out for these guys? How could they just slip through the patrols like that?"

"I don't know, love. That's what we need to find out." His expression was somber, but then he looked to the front of the house. "Seth's here."

"Seth?" I crossed to the window just as a sandy-colored wolf appeared through the trees. "Is he supposed to be running about like that?"

"He's almost fully recovered, but Sam didn't want him to join in the fight. He sent him over here so that we could know what's happening…and as extra protection for Charlie. One of the nomads has escaped, and he's not taking any chances."

EPOV

Signaling for Charlie and Bella to stay where they were on opposite sides of the living room, I let Seth inside, thanking him for coming and gleaning from his thoughts what had happened and what was currently occurring.

"There was a fight, and the leader, James, was quickly overwhelmed and destroyed. His mate, a red-headed woman called Victoria, managed to escape. Jasper said he thinks she's the one with the gift for evasion and is the reason they've been so difficult to track. She kept them moving high up in the trees so that we wouldn't pick up their scent, and she seemed to know instinctively to keep her distance from me…otherwise I would have heard their thoughts."

"Sam said there were three of them," Charlie interjected. "What happened to the other one?"

"He…surrendered." I picked up from Seth's thoughts, surprised that the wolves had allowed it until I saw that the dreadlocked nomad had hung back and given himself up to Esme and Carlisle…a wise move and no doubt the only reason he was still alive. "His name's Laurent. He didn't want to return to the area after the wolves chased them off, but he says that James was determined to avenge what he saw as a slight against his honor by an enemy he was determined to vanquish. James' obsession was the hunt, but he'd been becoming increasingly unstable with delusions of grandeur. He _wanted _his kills to be noticed…to draw attention to himself."

"Why didn't this Laurent just leave…go out on his own?" Bella asked, and I grimaced.

"James had threatened to hunt him down and destroy him if he didn't do as he was told. They'd worked out that we were friends with the wolves…another reason James wanted to return, I'm afraid, as he was determined to prove he was superior to both us and the wolves. Laurent's hope was that _we _would destroy James, releasing him from the hold he had over him. He came down to ground level a couple of times when James and Victoria were occupied so that we'd catch his scent. He's asked to be accepted into our coven."

"What?" Charlie and I cried in unison.

"But he's been party to killing at least five hikers and back-packers in the area…that we know of…not to mention Waylon's death," Charlie retorted angrily. "You can't be serious about just letting him join your family."

"No…of course not," I agreed. "I'm just telling you what Seth heard and what this Laurent requested. Carlisle and the others are explaining about our alternate lifestyle to him now, but you don't have to worry, they won't be inviting him home."

"But they will let him live, won't they?" Charlie muttered bitterly.

Seth whined, clearly no happier about that probable outcome. Shrugging, I crossed to Bella's side and wrapped my arms around her.

"We'll know more when they return, but yes…my bet is that Carlisle will give him the option of traveling north to visit the Denalis and seeing if he can adapt to our way of life."

"And the red-headed woman, Victoria?" Bella asked. "What do you think will happen to her?"

Normally I'd ask Alice, but with all the wolves involved, her talent was well and truly blocked. I wasn't surprised when I saw through Seth's connection to the wolf mind that she seemed quite distressed, holding her head as if it ached…though I imagined it was searching for the future and coming up blank that was causing her grief. Then I saw Jasper whisper something in her ear, and she nodded jerkily.

"I'm taking Alice away… up into the mountains," Jasper informed the group. "She's getting flashes but nothing clear, so we're going to get away for a bit so that she can try and see what's coming."

I relayed this news to Bella and Charlie, who nodded in understanding, though I knew Bella was worried. I was too. We'd thought we were prepared, but we'd been effectively blindsided by an enemy we'd underestimated…and another innocent human was dead. What bothered me the most was how close it had come to being Bella's father who was killed.

Seth whined again, and I nodded in understanding.

"Sam's left a guard at the boatyard, but everyone's heading back this way. They won't be long."

Bella gasped at my words, wrenched herself from my arms and dashed across the room, frighteningly close to her father. It made me realize how impossible it would be for me to restrain her if she was determined to get to him. Our safeguards and precautions were superficial at best, and it was Bella's determination not to harm Charlie or any other human that was the real protection.

"Sweetheart?" I called, running after her to find her at the centre of a whirlwind of color and movement in the middle of the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"My job!" she exclaimed. "Remember? I'm supposed to feed the troops when they return, and I can guarantee the wolves are going to be ravenous after being involved in both a chase and a fight."

"I wouldn't mind a cup of something hot myself," Charlie mused, coming to stand beside me in the doorway to the kitchen. "If it's okay for me to be here?"

"It's fine, Dad." Bella paused long enough in her frenetic but clearly purposeful movements to offer him a reassuring smile. "Coffee, pancakes and a hot breakfast coming up."

"Just the coffee thanks, Bells," he murmured, his eyes wide as he watched the kitchen transform into a hive of activity. It was as if a half dozen short-order cooks had been working since before sunup rather than his lone but supernaturally gifted daughter for a matter of minutes. From his perspective, strips of bacon suddenly began sizzling on an oversized grill, egg's fried, pancakes appeared to flip themselves, fruit flew through the air and landed perfectly diced in an enormous bowl, oranges went from sitting in a large bag to filling several jugs with fresh-squeezed juice, and the table was laid out for a buffet brunch like a scene from the Sorcerer's Apprentice…but without the mops and chaos.

"Man…if you opened a restaurant, Bella, you'd make a killing." Seth came to stand beside Charlie and me, having gone outside to phase and pull on his shorts. I refrained from commenting on the irony of his words. The way Bella's control was progressing so rapidly, nothing about her would have surprised me.

"Come on, Dad. You need more than coffee," she cajoled, halting with only the breakfast counter between them but clearly well in control. "The food's almost ready, and I know you've got a long day in front of you now that…" Her voice trailed off, and she bit her lower lip. "Unless you don't feel like eating because of what happened."

"You know me better than that, Bells." Charlie gave her a rueful smile and took a seat at the dining table where she happily served him breakfast. They were both acting as if there was nothing unusual about their actions, but I heard Charlie's heartbeat accelerate when she came close, and I was glad to see she was holding her breath...just to be on the safe side.

The rest of the family arrived home—minus Alice and Jasper—and the wolves soon followed. Bella was right, and the wolf pack members were ravenous. I helped Bella dish up the mountain of food she'd managed to prepare in record time while Esme took over in the kitchen flipping another batch of pancakes and pouring multiple mugs of coffee.

"So what happened with this Laurent fellow?" I asked Carlisle, his answer much as I'd predicted.

"He's intriguedby our way of life, and wants to learn more. I gave Eleazar a call, and he's invited Laurent to visit with them and see if he can adjust to our diet."

"It's not exactly the outcome we'd have preferred," Sam admitted. "But it fits with the compromise we agreed to."

Charlie shook his head angrily. "The compromise didn't say anything about letting killers off scot free."

The tension escalated at his perfectly understandable accusation—his friend had just been murdered inside our area of protection—and Sam looked to Carlisle to respond. Letting Laurent go didn't sit well with him either.

"I appreciate you feeling that way, Charlie. If it's any consolation, Laurent says he wasn't involved with killing Waylon. He stayed back, aware that we or the wolves could be watching. He's promised not to return to this area again…if he decides he can't adjust to our way of life," Carlisle offered, and I winced at Charlie's thoughts. He was trying to be understanding, but a part of him felt like we were accessories after the fact for letting Laurent go. But the alternative wasn't something he was ready to advocate either…that we operate as judge, jury and executioner.

For a man who had lived his life in a straightforward, fairly black and white manner, he was suddenly being confronted with an awful lot of gray.

Pushing back from his seat, Charlie thanked Bella for the delicious breakfast. "I'd better be going," he said, shaking his head when she offered him a second helping. "I appreciate that you've left some of your boys guarding the scene," he addressed Sam. "But it's time I went there myself and called it in."

"I'll come with you," Carlisle offered, and Charlie nodded his thanks. "I'll drive separately, and you can say you called me after you found him. I can help make sure the scene fits with an animal attack."

Bella crossed to my side at Carlisle's words, and I gladly pulled her into my embrace. She'd told me about Waylon when we were recounting her memories of her summers spent in Forks and one memorable Christmas when she'd come to stay with her dad while her mother was traveling with a new boyfriend. Charlie's friend had dressed up as Santa, and Bella had been too afraid to sit on his knee, even though she'd guessed it was him.

"You sure you're going to be okay, Dad?" she asked, and Charlie gave her his stoic smile.

"Always am, Bells," he replied, but I could hear in his thoughts that he was stretching the truth this time.

The sad events of the morning had rattled his composure in more ways than one. It was difficult for a man like him to have circumstances be so far outside of his control. It reminded him of when Renee had left him, taking Bella…and of when he'd thought Bella had died in the fire. His thoughts went hazy at that point, but I'd already begun to suspect that Charlie was seriously considering Emmett's and Jasper's joking proposal about becoming a vampire himself one day. He hated feeling helpless…and he didn't want to lose Bella again.

Not that I blamed him.

"What about the woman…Victoria?" he asked, pausing in the doorway. "Do you think she'll be back?"

"I would be if my mate was killed," Emmett answered, his arm wrapped tightly around Rosalie's waist. "I'd want revenge."

"Alice has gone to try and see if she can pick up on what Victoria is planning…or anything else that might be headed our way," Carlisle added. "But we won't take any chances…and we won't restrict our patrols to ground level this time."

"She's alone and grieving, so I wouldn't be surprised if she takes some time to regroup." Rose's comment wasn't received very well by our guests who preferred not to think of their enemy in such terms. But she had a valid point, and I wondered if Alice would pick up anything, as the redhead was probably in no fit state to be making decisions.

As if conjured by my thought, Carlisle's phone rang, and I heard Alice's frantic voice through the speaker.

"Carlisle!" she cried, her words jumbling together in her rush. "I'm so sorry. I've been looking, I promise, but I missed it somehow, and now they're coming. I just never imagined…"

"It's all right, Alice," Carlisle assured her, his voice predictably calm and controlled. "Take your time and start from the beginning. What did you see? Who's coming?" he asked, putting her on speaker phone.

"The Volturi," she answered, and a chorus of gasps and cries rose up from around the room.

"I asked Jasper to go with me further up into the mountains so that I could try and see Victoria, but instead I saw Aro, Marcus and Caius discussing their plans. They've been watching us since Forks High hit the news. Aro wasn't happy when he realized how big your coven had grown, Carlisle, and he's been waiting for an excuse to confront you. He _did _send spies, just like Jasper predicted, and they…they…" her voice caught on a sob.

"They what, Alice?" Carlisle asked, his gentle tone not betraying the turmoil and urgency of his thoughts.

"They went to the Denalis first, to see if they could get them to say something incriminating about us…something that would warrant further investigation."

"I just spoke to Eleazar, and he didn't say anything," Carlisle interjected, his concern becoming evident.

"That's because they didn't speak to him…they didn't have to. Tanya approached them first, and she told them everything."

"What do you mean, everything?" I demanded.

"Oh, Edward," Alice cried. "Tanya told them all about our talents…including Bella's…and now Aro wants us for his guard. They're coming for us!"

"Who's coming? How many?" Carlisle sounded more rattled than I could ever recall hearing.

"All of them," Alice whispered, and I pulled Bella protectively against my side. "They're bringing the entire guard…even the wives…and they'll be here in less than a week."

_~OB~_

_**Another evil cliffy, but I didn't want to finish on the sad note of Charlie leaving or drag the angst out for too long…so instead I went for even more angst. Hmmm…**_

_**I'd love to hear what you think. **_

_**xxx TLSue**_


	47. Prevention

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. Lucky Lady!_**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, for all their input and assistance, and to my prereader, Content1, for her terrific advice._**

**_Thanks Edward'sdj for reviewing every chapter. :D_**

**_Sorry for all the twitter dramas. I received a disturbing twitter and didn't realize it was a virus. When I tried to login, it hacked my account and sent the same message to all my followers. Sigh… That'll teach me to be so insecure!_**

**_Updated: Sunday, April 8th 2012  
>Words: 4277<em>**

Chapter 47

Prevention

BPOV

When Edward talked about the decades he'd lived as a vampire, I got the sense of time passing not so much slowly, but endlessly. Of course, there were highlights to his existence, special memories and events he'd shared with the family or experienced alone. But there was the definite feel of repetition to his descriptions, of boredom, even futility to the never-ending procession of his mostly ordered and generally predictable days.

So far, my experience of being a vampire was a little different.

While I was adjusting to my new life, there were still times I felt like a drunk reeling from punch to punch in a barroom brawl.

Not that it was all bad, of course.

Falling desperately and completely in love with Edward, knowing that, as my mate, his feelings for me were equally as strong was not something I regretted.

I couldn't deny that there were other aspects to being a vampire that I enjoyed: the hunt; the taste of blood and the euphoria that accompanied drinking it; the strength, speed, and agility that my new body was capable of; the potential of my new mind which I'd barely begun to tap. The possibilities stretched before me endlessly but not futilely as having Edward at my side, my love, my mate, my _husband—_that one was going to take a while to get my head around—gave meaning to my life in ways I had only just begun to discover.

On the other hand, there was an awful lot of chaos to contend with.

My talent, while powerful, was frighteningly unpredictable, and I had yet to decide if it was curse or blessing. My training sessions with Jasper and Edward brought some improvement to my control but nowhere near enough for me to feel confident that I would be much use in a fight. If I was physically connected with a "friendly," as Emmett liked to call them, I could easily repel any foe that came against us. But differentiating between friend and foe if I was grabbed hold of by both at once wasn't something I could manage. Nor could I protect anyone from the effect of my shield if we weren't linked in some way.

I _hated _hurting the people I cared about, but Jasper insisted I practise with "live targets," as he believed the higher the stakes, the quicker I'd develop the control I needed. Grumbling, I'd muttered that the stakes couldn't get much higher than knowing that the entire Volturi guard was headed our way.

As if things weren't bad enough with the nomads murdering one of my dad's oldest friends, Alice's news had increased the tension unbearably. Charlie's response to the news hadn't helped, not that it was all that surprising. Replaying the memory of the conversation in my mind, I couldn't help thinking that if I'd been in his shoes, and Edward and the Cullens at risk, I would have wanted the same thing.

"Change me," Charlie demanded, looking to Carlisle and Edward. "Bite me or whatever the hell it is you have to do, but do it now. You said it takes three days, so we've got just enough time to turn me into a vampire before these Volturi arrive."

"Dad, no!" I cried.

"Bella, you have to let me do this," he insisted. "Bullets won't work against these guys, and it's not like I can call in SWAT or the FBI. I don't even know if the army would be any use against them. They're coming to _my _town, for _my _daughter, and as a human, I can't do a damn thing to protect you or anyone else."

The argument that followed his pronouncement was not as heated as I thought it would be, or at least, not for the reasons I'd expected. Sam was surprisingly supportive of the idea, declaring that the more help we had the better. Even while greatly outnumbering the nomads, capturing and defeating them hadn't been easy and even then, one had gotten away. The thought of as many as _thirty_ lethally skilled vampires, some with psychic powers in addition to their already supernatural strength and ability, descending on our little area of the world was enough to frighten even seasoned warriors.

"I think it's a great idea." Emmett backed my dad. "Charlie will make a kick-ass vampire, and we're going to need all the help we can get. I say go for it!"

Carlisle disagreed. "I'm not comfortable with changing someone in cold blood. Besides, it will send a message to the Volturi that we're expecting aggression, and I don't think that's wise."

"One touch from Aro, and the Volturi are going to know all about Charlie, the wolves, our alliance…more than enough grounds for them to justify our destruction," Jasper argued, having arrived with Alice while the argument still raged. In the end, it was my reminder of how little control a newborn vampire possessed that brought an end to the possibility of changing my dad…for now.

"I'm sorry, Charlie, but Bella is right," Carlisle agreed. "The likelihood is that you would end up being more hindrance than help…a distraction that we can't afford at this time. Bella is only now gaining the control required to be of assistance, and it will still be a grave challenge for her to manage her bloodlust and abilities if it comes to a fight…and that's only as long as there are no humans present."

"So, what?" Charlie demanded angrily. "I just go bunker down somewhere while these monsters take out half the town?"

"We'll lead them away from Forks and the tribe," Alice assured him. "I saw us meeting in a large field at the foot of a mountain, someplace far from civilization."

"Okay, so hopefully we can keep them from killing our friends, but I'm assuming thirty vampires means at least thirty deaths while they're here…maybe more?" Charlie's query was met with strained silence and a sharp nod from Carlisle.

"So, who do we sacrifice?" Charlie demanded. "I'm guessing they'll be flying in on a private plane. Do we let them satisfy their hunger in Seattle, or will they land in Port Angeles and, I don't know, stage a natural disaster to justify thirty deaths there before they come for us? I know there are vampires all over the world killing people every day, and there's not a damned thing we can do about it. But this is our home, our responsibility as far as I'm concerned. There must be something we can do to prevent them from killing innocent people."

"It's not too late for us to go to Volterra instead…to preempt them from coming here." Alice's suggestion was met with gasps from the Cullens and speculative looks from the Quileutes.

"What would that mean?" Sam asked, and Edward answered, his expression grim as he held me tightly against his side.

"It would mean Jasper, Alice, Bella and I surrendering to the Volturi in exchange for them allowing the rest of the family to live. But they'd still find out about the wolves, and there'd be no guarantee they wouldn't come here anyway."

"Well, that's not an option." Charlie's shoulders slumped and he sat back in his chair.

The looks of defeat I saw around me were heartbreaking and frightening. "So, that's it?" I whispered. "Even if we convince the Volturi that we're no threat to them and get them to leave us alone, we can't stop them from killing innocent people while they're here?" Turning, I buried my face against Edward's chest.

"Shh," he murmured, stroking my hair. "There might be something we can do to at least minimize the number of deaths. Charlie's right in assuming the Volturi will use a private plane. With that many vampires traveling together, in particular the ancient ones, they'd be too conspicuous to use any other means of transport that would still get them here in time to coincide with Alice's vision," he explained. "I've seen the field where the meeting occurs. It's up near the Canadian border and close to an airstrip used for getting mining and forestry workers into the mountains."

"I know the one," Rose added. "Emmett and I sometimes camp up that way when we're hunting bear. There are never more than a handful of people around, in fact, it's usually deserted."

"But how do we get the Volturi to land at that particular airstrip?" I asked, puzzled. "Wouldn't they arrive closer to Forks since they know this is where we live?"

Edward looked to Carlisle to answer my question.

"A member of their guard, Demetri, has the ability to track anyone, anywhere," Carlisle explained. "If we move to this isolated location early enough, they'll hopefully come directly to us."

"I can go one better than that," Alice interjected excitedly. "I saw Aro reading what he told the others was a letter of invitation. It was an email showing co-ordinates."

"If I send it immediately, we can ensure they'll know exactly where to meet us…and hopefully diffuse some of the tension at the same time by sending a conciliatory message," Carlisle enthused.

Jasper nodded thoughtfully. "It will also let them know they've lost the element of surprise."

"Won't they need to refuel somewhere?" Charlie asked.

"We'll make sure we have everything they need on site," Jasper replied. "Though you do realize that we can't stop them from landing somewhere else on their way back to Volterra if they get thirsty?"

"I know." Charlie's expression sobered. "But I appreciate your efforts to do what you can to prevent bloodshed on our own doorstep."

Coming back to the present, I focused on the problem of trying to prevent our own destruction as I once more put my shield to the test. Sending what I _hoped_ was just enough power to be noticeable without causing too much pain, I winced when both Edward, _friend, _and Emmett, _foe, _fell to the ground together, groaning.

"Sorry," I called, quickly retracting the shield and racing over to comfort friend and foe alike, well, maybe friend a little more. I let Rose comfort Emmett while I drew Edward into my arms.

"I'm so sorry," I repeated while kissing his brow and face and neck, desperate to soothe the pain I could feel tensing his muscles into tight bunches. When the spasms finally eased, he reached to wrap his arms around me, holding me close.

"Shh, it's all right, Bella," he murmured. "I'm okay."

"But that was only supposed to be a small shock, and you weren't supposed to get zapped, only Emmett," I sighed, defeated.

"Small shock my ass," Emmett grumbled, though he seemed okay now and was happily lapping up Rose's sympathetic support. I'd never seen this side to Rose before, but there was something about her man putting himself in harm's way to protect the family that brought out the nurturer in her, amongst other things.

"That's it for today," she declared emphatically. "Emmett's taken enough abuse, and we need some alone time…_now._"

"Yes, dear." Emmett's meek response was spoiled a little by the lascivious wink he sent Edward's and my way as he followed her toward the house.

Edward laughed, pulling me to sit cradled in his lap, but I couldn't even muster a smile.

"Hey, sweetheart," he murmured, lifting my chin. "It's fine. _We're _fine."

"No, we're not," I muttered, and I could see from Jasper's expression as he approached that he was on my side. Crouching down next to us, his mouth drew into a grim line.

"I suppose I could just take everyone out in one big bang then keep the bad guys contained somehow while the rest of you recover?" I suggested, only half-joking.

"That's _if _we recover," Edward surprised me by admitting. "I hate to say this, but I'm a bit worried those shocks are starting to take their toll. It's taking longer and longer to recuperate, and my nerves are getting twitchy." He pointed to a muscle in his thigh that continued to spasm, and I jumped off his lap in alarm.

"Edward! Why didn't you say something sooner?" I cried, horrified.

"Because he didn't want to worry you, but we have to face facts," Jasper stated. "We're running out of time for you to gain the control we need. I don't think we're going to be able to use your shield the way we'd hoped, as an offensive weapon able to discriminate between allies and targets."

"But I can still protect everyone if we're connected," I insisted. "As long as everyone holds hands, or leans against one another in the wolves' case, I can put a shield around us all…for a while, at least."

Controlling the different aspects of my shield was turning out to be much harder than I'd hoped. If I was focused on protecting a large group, I couldn't produce much firepower. Those on the outside felt an irritating tingle when they came up against the shield, but nothing they couldn't push past if they were determined. On a positive note, we were almost one hundred percent certain that I would be able to protect those inside the shield from being instantly incapacitated by Jane's or Alex's horrifying talents or Chelsea's ability to break the bonds between us.

A shudder ran through me every time I thought of the dreadful abilities the Volturi would be bringing against us and the thought that I—the newest vampire and undoubtedly weakest link—was our only hope of escaping total annihilation. While Carlisle still maintained that the Volturi's civilizing control over the vampire world was a necessary evil, he'd abandoned his stance that they weren't our personal enemy since Alice's visions had made it clear that Aro wanted to acquire half of his family for the Volturi guard…whether we wanted to be acquired or not.

"Protecting us from the Volturi's debilitating abilities, even temporarily, could well mean the difference between success and failure." Jasper's attempt to be reassuring brought a reluctant smile to my face.

"Thanks," I murmured. "I just wish I could use my shield as more than a 'bubble' to bounce off psychic powers. If only we could find a way to show the Volturi how much damage I can do, maybe they'll back off and leave us alone." My voice ended on a hoarse sob, and I gratefully allowed Edward to pull me back onto his lap.

"It's okay," he crooned, softly brushing the hair back from my face and nuzzling my ear.

"You're not letting us down," Jasper added, reaching a hand to Alice as she came to kneel beside him.

"You've given us all hope," she encouraged. "Well…a chance."

Alice's visions—the ones she was able to see when she and Jasper traveled far enough away from the wolves for her to be able to see at all—were fragmented to say the least. We'd discussed the wolves not coming to the meeting with the Volturi, but since Aro would know all about them with one touch of any of our hands, except possibly mine, we decided they'd better accompany us. Our main objective, other than staying alive and being allowed to continue that way, was to keep the Volturi away from the people we cared about who weren't able to protect themselves. The only place we wanted them to go was back to their home, using the most direct route possible.

In some of her visions, Alice saw that happening. In others, she saw nothing, as if the future didn't exist for us anymore. In one horrifying alternative, she saw me in Volterra…alone.

I tried not to think about that or the furious argument it had triggered between her and Edward.

"Why would you tell her about that?" he'd demanded when, for one of the first times since my change, I'd reacted in a traditional vampire manner and frozen. I had been so terrified by what her vision must mean that everything had just shut down…my emotions…my thoughts…my body.

Alice had insisted I had the right to know, that we all needed to know just how serious the situation was, but she'd also apologized for upsetting me so profoundly.

"I can't be without Edward," I'd eventually whispered when I could talk again. "I know it's a horrible thing to say, but I'd rather we were both dead than be left alone without him."

"It's not horrible, Bella," she'd said, shaking her head and drawing my stiff body into a hug. "It's how we all feel about our mates. Edward couldn't go on without you, either."

"So we all have to live," I'd stated flatly, refusing to entertain any other possibilities. Which was why almost all I'd done since hearing Alice's news, other than hunting, and that was only so I could safely visit with my dad for a while each evening, was to practice with my shield night and day.

"Sweetheart, you need to take a break, we all do," Edward insisted, though his voice was gentle. His leg had stopped twitching, but I was both worried and a little angry that he'd let it get so bad without saying something.

"Okay." I think I surprised him by agreeing. "Charlie, Sam and the others won't be here for a few hours, and Esme promised to keep an eye on the casserole I've left simmering in the slow cooker. We could use some alone time. How about we go for a run?"

Edward's eyes darkened immediately, the temperature around us rising quickly and the air all but crackling with the sexual tension my suggestion unleashed. We'd barely spent any time alone since Waylon's murder, our need for each other sublimated by my determination to gain control over my shield before the Volturi arrived. It wasn't something anyone had said, but we all knew it might make the difference between life and death.

For now, I'd done all I could, and I needed my mate just as he needed me.

"On that note, Alice and I will bid you farewell," Jasper drawled, Edward's and my mumbled reply barely coherent.

"Oh, Edward," I breathed, moving to straddle his lap while my eyes hungrily roamed his too handsome features. It was a good thing I no longer needed to breathe because, more often than not, this too beautiful, too perfect man quite literally stole the air from my lungs. We were married, and he was my mate, but I still found it hard to believe that he was all mine.

"I've missed you," I whispered, cupping his face with my hands and leaning in to brush my lips over his in a tender kiss.

"I've been right here, sweetheart," he assured me, "and I'm not going anywhere."

"I know, but I'm scared," I admitted, and groaning, he pulled me against him, burying his face against my neck.

"I promise, I won't let anything happen to you…to _us,_" he vowed, his tone intense. I wrapped my arms around his body, hugging him tightly but not too tight. At least my control was improving in some areas.

We stayed that way for a moment, holding each other, our bodies entwined, but then the tension that had dissipated with my fears returned and grew.

"Let's go somewhere we can be alone," Edward whispered, and I nodded, my cheek brushing against his and sending a delicious shiver right through me.

Standing together, we turned and ran toward the river, crossing it in a smooth, synchronized bound. Landing lightly, we ran deep into the forest, eating up the miles as we sought someplace where we could be undisturbed. Within minutes, we came across a shaded glen tucked away in the lee of a steep hill, the location private, protected…perfect.

With the Volturi on their way and my focus on gaining control over my shield, we'd gone two days without making love, which, of course, felt much, much longer. But we didn't rush. Coming to a halt in the middle of the dappled-green clearing, we stood facing one another, our fingers barely touching.

"Do you want to hunt first?" Edward asked, the husky timbre of his voice brushing over me like a caress.

I shook my head, my eyes locking with his dark, intense gaze that mirrored the hunger burning in mine.

"I just want you," I breathed, and the distance between us disappeared, our embrace surprisingly gentle considering the depth of our desire. Unspoken, we shared the need to reconnect with tenderness, which didn't mean we weren't in a hurry.

Within seconds our clothes were gone, not torn away in a frenzy but lovingly removed…at speed.

Groaning as our naked bodies brushed together, I ran my hands over his silken skin, eventually bringing them to rest on his broad shoulders. Arching my back, my breasts pressed against the hard wall of his chest, and his strong, loving arms drew me close, trapping his erection between us.

Reveling in the feel of his rigid desire prodding determinedly against the soft curve of my belly, I moaned. My head fell back, and Edward rained soft kisses and gentle nips along my jawline before suckling at the sensitive skin just below my ear. I angled my head to give him greater access, letting the pressure, the heat, and the sweet liquid longing build low in my belly.

With a gentle nudge, Edward urged me to spread my legs a little wider. Barely coherent, I managed to obey, and he shifted his swollen length, nestling it snugly in that perfect space between the tops of my thighs. I shuddered with pleasure, whimpering softly as he rubbed against me, stroking my wet, swollen folds and along the curve of my bottom until I melted into him. If Edward hadn't been holding me, I would have slumped to the ground, boneless. As it was, all I could do was moan as he brought a hand up to gently squeeze my breast, teasing the tight nipple to an aching bud that longed for the touch of his mouth, while the pulsing ache throbbing deep inside me demanded to be filled by him…now.

"Edward," I eventually managed to utter on a hoarse cry. Recognizing my plea, he lowered us both to the moss-covered ground and covered my body with his. His head bent, his lips tugging the nipple his fingers had been teasing into his mouth and suckling.

"Aargh…" I moaned, my body arching off the ground as his tongue worked its magic. Spreading my legs wider, I lowered my hands to clasp his hips, urging him higher until I felt the head of his erection exactly where I wanted it to be…or almost.

Reluctantly releasing my nipple, Edward lifted his head from my breast. With his body tense and straining as he hovered over me, he gazed down, his eyes dark with desire.

"Ready, baby?" he breathed, his sweet scent intoxicating my senses.

"More than ready," I whispered, and without hesitation he surged forward, filling me, completing me.

I anticipated that he would continue to move, to begin the dance that we'd all but perfected in such a short space of time.

But he hesitated.

With one hand cupping my breast and the other resting beside me, teasing strands of my hair though his fingers, Edward leaned down until our faces softly touched. His nose brushed against mine, nuzzling tenderly as he sought and found my lips.

And then he began to move, his sweet-tasting tongue stroking my mouth in rhythm with the flexing of his hips as he pumped slowly in and out of my body. Savoring the sensual reunion, we kissed and caressed, sensitized fingers stroking faces, tangling in silken locks, tracing curves and dips and planes in poignant, aching remembrance.

"I love you," Edward breathed against my lips, his long, lean body sliding over mine as he moved against me and inside me. With each thrust he drove deeper…pushed harder…groaned louder.

"Yes," I moaned, arching against him, panting with every pulsing stroke as the pleasure built.

"Ungh!" I cried as the first pulses of rapture sent sparks shooting along my nerves, an electrical firestorm of ecstasy on the brink of erupting. Perfectly attuned to the nuances of my body, Edward thrust faster, his hands and mouth and lips and body all moving in perfect harmony to send me soaring into paradise. Groaning against my ear as my cries of rapture filled the air, he delayed his release, clearly determined to draw out my pleasure for as long as possible.

"Oh, Edward...I love you…so much," I gasped, the waves of joy-filled satiation slowly receding only to build again with astonishing speed and intensity when I felt him losing control. It was my turn to kiss and caress and stroke and encourage with soft whispers and murmured cries, and this time, when Edward roared his release, pulsing inside me, I gladly joined him, and we lost ourselves in ecstasy together.

_~OB~_

**_Thanks to all my lovely reviewers for your ongoing support for this story. This one was for you, Noble Korhedron: no evil cliffy this chapter…though I'm guessing you can tell that there's some drama ahead. ;)_**

**_As for angelari7's suggestion to have Aro fall for Charlie…wash your mouth out with soap! (Pretty funny though.)_**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	48. Alpha Male

_**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I have an imagination that takes me in some very unexpected directions. **_

_**Thanks, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, for betaing, supporting, encouraging and inspiring me to keep going. **_

_**Special thanks to Beckysdream for going back and reviewing every chapter in a most creative way…and making me smile when I was feeling a little low. :D You, too, GorGirl and all my wonderful, faithful reviewers who've stuck with me through thick and thin! **_

_**I'm glad you're enjoying this Charlie and the way I'm trying to address some pretty important issues that I think canon Twilight overlooked. I hope you can forgive me for the, ah...rather unusual lemon ahead. These guys have some vampire fantasies, and they can be pretty demanding about having them fulfilled…just saying.**_

_**Updated: Sunday, 15th April, 2012  
>Words: 3236<strong>_

Chapter 48

Alpha Male

BPOV

"Would you like to hunt now?" Edward murmured, his soothing caresses combining with the aftereffects of our lovemaking to lull me into an almost dreamlike state. My limbs lay languorously sprawled over his smooth, silky, and wonderfully sexy skin.

Everything about Edward was sexy: the way he moved his lean, muscular body, gracefully but with an aura of danger like a wild jungle cat; the rumbling growls that reverberated from deep within his chest when we made love; his loving, smirking, teasing smile; those smoldering amber eyes; his angled cheekbones and chiseled jaw…not to mention the perpetually tousled bronze hair that begged my fingers to burrow in its silken strands.

Sighing, I reveled in the way our limbs entwined and the fact that this swoon-inducing man was completely, totally, and utterly mine.

"Sweetheart?" he gasped as I rocked against his almost perpetually aroused state, his hands cupping my bottom. "You don't want to hunt just yet?"

Sitting up, I positioned my knees astride his hips and found the perfect angle to lower myself onto him, moaning as his length filled me completely. Riding slowly, with my head tossed back and my hair cascading around us, I captured his hands, bringing them up to cup my breasts.

"I'll take that as a definite 'no,' then," he groaned, squeezing and teasing the pink buds as he arched up to meet my downward thrusts.

"Oh…I wouldn't go quite that far," I whispered huskily, deciding on the spur of the moment to try an idea I'd been playing with in the very back of my mind. While maintaining my rhythm, I reached down to rasp teasing licks over his sensitive nipples, across the smooth planes of his chest and, one of my favourite places, the curve of his neck. I stayed there for a while, kissing, licking and sucking until he shuddered beneath me. Nipping along his angular jaw, with my breasts brushing tantalizingly against his chest, I reached my ultimate destination…his delicious lips. I completed my journey with a soft kiss that quickly escalated into a sizzling, sweet-tasting tangle of tongues and hungry sighs.

And then I disappeared.

Edward's moan became an outraged cry when, in a fraction of a second, I disengaged our bodies, leapt to my feet, and sprinted to the edge of the clearing. Leaning up on his elbows, he stared at me, his eyes dark and hooded. Moving with all the sensual grace my new vampire body was capable of, I tossed my hair over my shoulder and speared him with my most sultry expression.

"I'm _more_ than ready to hunt," I purred and then slowly slid my tongue over my pouting lips. "Or maybe I should say…_be _hunted."

Hooking my finger, I taunted him to after me and then took off in the direction of a herd of deer I'd scented earlier. Edward followed in very hot pursuit, the epitome of a highly aroused and extremely virile alpha male. Glancing over my shoulder at the sound of his furious growls, I gasped, _almost_ afraid of the hungry, determined look in his eyes. A thrill of excitement coursed through me, and I ran faster, leaping boulders and small creeks and weaving through overhanging vines and branches. I might have been stronger than Edward for now, but he was much faster than I was, not to mention rather highly motivated, catching me quite easily upwind but not far from our prey.

"Bella," he hissed, spinning me into his arms before pressing me firmly against the trunk of a nearby tree. Easily capturing both my hands in one of his, he held them high above my head, rubbing our naked bodies together as he growled in my ear.

"Edward, baby, I was teasing," I whimpered, certain he knew that but caught up in the game…and loving it.

"You _ran _from me," he snarled, clamping his teeth down onto the sensitive curve of my neck and biting just hard enough for me to flinch at the slight sting of his venom. Instantly releasing his teeth, he licked the place he'd bitten with soothing strokes of his tongue, sending shivers racing across my skin.

"So what's it to be?" he demanded, the words vibrating against my throat.

Trembling with desire and captivated by the fiercely possessive expression in his eyes, I held still when he began a slow journey down the length of my body with his free hand. With gentle caresses, he smoothed the tangled hair back from my face, then, allowing just enough space between us for his hand to skim over my breasts, he teased my nipples before tracing a slow circle around my belly. Quivering with need, I moaned when his fingers ventured lower and tangled in the damp curls at the junction of my thighs. Angling so that he could thrust his rigid length against my hip, he slid his fingers beneath the curls and, staring deep into my eyes, slowly entered me.

"Blood or sex," he growled, probing deeply with his slightly curled fingers, his thumb swirling in slow, deliberate circles over my sensitive nub. The pleasure was so intense, my eyes practically rolled back in my head.

"Both," I breathed, when I was capable of speech.

Edward's hand stilled, and his desire-darkened eyes widened. "Both?"

Biting down on my lip, I contemplated whether or not I had the courage to tell him about my secret fantasy, the one I let myself dwell on when I wasn't worrying myself sick about nomadic vampires targeting my dad or murdering his friends, the Volturi's imminent arrival, or what I would undoubtedly do to Tanya if I ever saw her again. Worst of all, adding immeasurably to my stress, I'd overheard Charlie saying my mom wasn't doing too well. There was a small chance it would shock him and an even slimmer chance that he'd think badly of me, but I discounted that immediately. Edward would do anything for me.

"Yes, both," I admitted huskily. "I want blood…and _you…_at the same time."

Edward swore very softly, and it was my turn to stare in shock as I'd never heard him curse before.

Afraid that I'd offended him, I tugged against his hand, but he held firm, the look in his eyes keeping me fixed in place. It wasn't an expression I'd seen directed my way before other than the day we'd first met.

Predator to my prey.

His lips curled back from his teeth, and he growled, the ferocious sound that rumbled deep in his chest vibrating right through me. Slowly withdrawing his hands, the one that was pinning my arms in place above my head and the other that cupped my sex with his fingers inside me, he moved them to either side of my head. When he leaned in, I tensed. Not that I thought he'd bite me again but not entirely sure what this Edward—the one I'd aroused to a fever pitch and then taunted into losing control—would do.

"Do exactly as I tell you, and I will give you what you want," he whispered against my mouth, and I nodded slowly. He growled long and low against my ear, his erection pressing demandingly against my belly, then he pushed back from the tree, grasped my hand, and together we ran in silence toward where the deer were grazing.

"Wait here," Edward instructed on the edge of the clearing where the herd grazed, his words a command, not a request.

Obeying, I watched him bring down a large buck with practised ease and then gesture for me to approach. Thirst flared in the back of my throat along with the bloodlust that battered at the barriers I'd erected around my vampire nature, though neither matched the rampant sexual desire that burned like fire in my veins.

Kneeling beside him, our naked bodies touching at shoulder and hip and thigh, I ignored the buck and kept my eyes fixed on my mate's intense gaze.

A month earlier, I couldn't have contemplated being here with him like this, to share the blood and be able to think of anything else at the same time. But things had changed. For the first few weeks after I became a vampire, hunting was an exercise in maintaining some sort of control and not humiliating myself. I'd needed Jasper's help just so that I could feed and not be completely overcome by the physical lust I felt for Edward when I was finished.

But there was no reason to hold back any more.

Of course, Edward and I had hunted together and made love immediately after already, but not like this. I wasn't even sure if what I wanted was possible or if I'd be too distracted by the blood or become too aggressive at having another vampire's presence so close while I fed. But I wanted to try, and from the look in Edward's eyes, it appeared that he was more than willing to help me.

"What should I do?" I whispered, swallowing hard as the scent of the rich blood just beneath the deer's skin tested my control.

A corner of Edward's mouth curved, and he reached to stroke his hand slowly down my spine before capturing my hip and pulling me against his side.

"Let your instincts guide you, and I'll do the rest," he murmured, his words an instruction, his tone a sensual promise.

"Okay," I breathed, and letting my eyes flutter closed, I lowered my head and sank my teeth into the buck's neck, the delicious, delirium-inducing blood filling my mouth and flooding my senses. As I sucked and swallowed, Edward moved to kneel behind me, his hands…everywhere. With smooth, silky strokes, he caressed my back, my hips, my thighs.

"Stay focused, baby," he whispered huskily, leaning forward to blaze a trail of hot, sweet kisses from just behind my ear to the place on my left shoulder-blade that tingled with pleasure whenever it felt the brush of his lips. "Just keep drinking…keep enjoying that delicious blood."

I nodded, sucking and swallowing and letting the euphoria flood my senses while being completely attuned to Edward's every touch. Despite his aggressive response to my running from him and the dominant tone of his commands, he moved gently, arousing me with soft caresses and feather-light touches. When his hands slid to my hips and lifted them higher, his knee urging my legs wider, I didn't resist. When his fingers caressed my bottom and slid slowly down to cup the soft curls covering my throbbing sex, I moaned. And when he expertly positioned his erection and began to push inside me, I shuddered and pressed back against him.

"That's it, baby, keep drinking and let me love you," he murmured as he began to move in strong, sure strokes, sliding in and out of me and filling me completely. Soothing and caressing my body with his hands, he gauged my response, thrusting gently at first, and then harder and deeper when I moaned in pleasure and pressed back against him. Heat exploded low in my belly, and I pulsed around him as he moved inside me in time with my hungry swallows.

The thrill of the hot, tangy blood flowing down my throat and the exhilaration of having Edward take me like this, holding me in place and covering my body with his, sent me soaring into blissful oblivion almost immediately. Overwhelmed with the most intense ecstasy I'd ever experienced, I spent long moments swept up in a sea of elation. When I was finally capable of conscious thought, all I wanted to do was share the joy with Edward, to have him feel it with me and for us to feel it together.

Turning to look over my shoulder to where he continued to move inside me, holding back his own release so as to ensure I experienced mine to the fullest, I murmured huskily, "Drink with me, baby."

He closed his eyes for a moment. "Are you sure?" he eventually rasped, his muscles rigid as he held tightly to his control.

"Please…I want you to. I want us to drink and come together."

Nodding, he moved our still-connected bodies so that we could both reach the buck's neck. With our eyes locked, we sank in our teeth and began to drink the ambrosial fluid together. Edward's entire body tensed. and I smiled and began to move beneath him, encouraging him to take what he wanted, the blood and me together. With a low growling vibrating in his chest, and with his hands holding me exactly where he wanted me, he began to thrust in time with _his _swallows, deeply, fiercely, over and over again until I could barely stand it. Tearing my mouth away from the buck, I cried out in passion while Edward thrust deeper, and we lost ourselves in a world of blood and lust and bliss.

_~OB~_

EPOV

I'd never behaved so aggressively with Bella before: chasing her, pinning her forcefully, commanding her to obey me. Hell, I'd even bitten her, though not deeply enough to leave a scar…I hoped.

A part of me wanted to blame my actions on a sudden and inexplicable loss of control over my vampire nature. But when she'd initiated our lovemaking and then broken off so abruptly, standing naked in all her stunning, sensual beauty and then taunting me to come after her...to _take _her...something primal had let loose within me. I honestly didn't think it would have made any difference if I'd still been human. My reaction had been all about a male claiming his female.

Which didn't mean I wasn't shocked by my actions.

Fighting the urge to bury myself under a mountain of self-recrimination, I focused on Bella's adorably doe-eyed expression and the way she couldn't seem to get close enough to me as we made our way slowly back to where we'd left our clothes. Stopping at a deep pool I'd spied when running her down_,_ I motioned for her to join me and, hand-in-hand, we lowered ourselves into the cool, running water to wash away the dirt and blood from both the hunt and our mating.

As soon as we were immersed to our necks, Bella wrapped herself around me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"You okay, sweetheart?" I asked, and she mumbled incoherently, snuggling close. Chuckling softly, I cuddled her to me, enjoying seeing her relaxed, contented, and about as satiated as it was possible to be.

I loved everything about Bella: her intelligence, courage, grace, beauty, and especially her independence. I wouldn't change a thing about her, and I certainly didn't expect her to defer to me. We were partners in every sense of the word. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that having her meekly submit to my display of untamed domination hadn't been incredibly arousing, leading to one of the most intensely satisfying sexual encounters we'd shared so far.

After washing each other clean in the cool, refreshing water, we made love again, but quietly this time. With Bella's legs wrapped around my waist and me buried deep inside her, we moved together with gentle abandon. Clinging to each other, we kissed softly, our tongues entwining as we tasted and explored one another, desperate to express the love that overflowed our hearts. When our passion was finally spent, we returned to the clearing and our thankfully intact clothing before heading back to the house and the many pressures that awaited us.

Bella continued to cling to my side, her answers to my queries regarding her wellbeing monosyllabic and her expression dazed. I knew she didn't physically need me to carry her, but I gladly picked her up and cradled her in my arms for the final leg of the journey. Sighing, she nestled in close, her fingers slipping between the buttons of my shirt to softly caress my skin.

An odd vibration began coursing through me, emanating from where Bella rested against my chest and then spreading outwards in a wave of gentle, tingling pleasure. Hesitating, I wondered if it had something to do with her shield, but then I realized what was causing the delicious sensation...

There were numerous challenges ahead of us. She'd yet to bring it up, but I knew that Bella had overheard Charlie talking about Renee's emotional decline. Bella's mother was not coping with her grief over losing her only child, and Phil was getting seriously worried about his wife's mental decline.

The Denalis would arrive at any time, having insisted on being present when the Volturi came against us even though Carlisle had urged them to stay out of harm's way. Having recently been reunited with Tanya, their hopes to be able to repair the breech in our relationship the secret use of her talent had caused were all but shattered by this most recent betrayal.

Charlie was hiding something, of that I was certain. I just wasn't sure what. I got the impression it wasn't necessarily a _bad _thing, but I didn't like not knowing what was going on or how it would affect Bella.

Jacob was still struggling with his feelings for Bella and the loss of the future he'd hoped for, something he was trying to hide but that I knew Bella sensed and that added to her grief.

While Jasper thought the added numbers and element of surprise outweighed the problems they caused, working with a pack of mostly very young and highly unstable wolves wasn't something I was comfortable with, though I couldn't deny the threat they posed, having experienced, firsthand, the ferocity of one of their attacks.

Victoria was still on the loose, and despite the fact that we _really _didn't need the added stress, I had a feeling she'd be back in an attempt to avenge her mate. As Emmett had pointed out, it's what any of us would do, and we were supposed to be the civilized ones.

And last, but far from least, the Volturi were due to arrive in less than three days, intent on destroying or imprisoning the people I loved, with my wife their primary target.

But despite all these worries, I couldn't keep the highly self-satisfied smile from my face. For now, I was walking through the woods with the woman I'd never even dared to dream of cradled lovingly in my arms and sending pleasurable vibrations right through my body. Satiated from our extraordinary lovemaking and as somnolent as it was possible for a vampire to be…she was _purring_.

To quote Emmett, "I was the man."

_~OB~_

_**Fans self while ducking for cover. Seriously, I didn't plan another lemon—well, not such a kinky one—but honestly, they made me do it! **_

_**Action and drama ahead, I promise.**_

_**xxx TLSue **_

_**PS. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all your lovely, interesting, helpful and inspiring reviews. You'd be amazed how many times they remind me of things I'd forgotten or give me ideas when I'm running dry. I'm sorry I've not been able to reply very often lately. (Silly me, thinking I could keep up with posting two stories at the same time…burnout much?) But please keep reviewing. We're on the home stretch, and I really need them to keep me motivated! Plus they make me smile. :D**_


	49. Mr Cryptic

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I have awesome betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, who not only give me lots of support and encouragement…they think I'm funny!_**

**_Thanks for all the lovely reviews! **_Welcome to all the new readers and thanks for the recs and tweets from my regular readers and reviewers. _**You guys are awesome for sticking with me for so long. :D_**

**_I'm glad you enjoyed the steamy vampire lemons from last chapter. Now for something a little bit different..._**

**_Updated: Saturday, April 21st 2012  
>Words: 3877<em>**

Chapter 49

Mr. Cryptic

BPOV

Edward carried me all the way home, leaping the river with ease and landing gracefully, despite the fact that he was cradling me in his arms.

As we approached the house, I thought that I should probably ask him to put me down. But I was in no hurry to bring our lovely interlude to an end, my body still humming with residual pleasure from our lovemaking.

"You okay?" he murmured close to my ear, and I nodded, my cheek brushing against the smooth skin of his neck.

Breathing deeply, I inhaled his scent and nuzzled closer, the sweet yet masculine smell bringing a contented smile to my lips. I'd never felt so completely and utterly relaxed in my entire life.

"I love you so much," I whispered, knowing Edward would easily hear.

He leaned down to kiss the top of my head. "Me, too, baby, me, too," he crooned, cuddling me closer. But then his step slowed, and he came to a halt.

"Time to come back to reality?" I groaned plaintively.

"Afraid so, sweetheart." He reached to softly kiss my lips and then released me to slide slowly down his body. As soon as my feet touched the ground, he hugged me tightly, and I gladly wrapped my arms around him in return, resting my head against his chest. While there was no heartbeat to listen to, I loved the sound of his steady, even breaths and the way his words vibrated through his chest when he spoke.

"Your dad and Jacob have arrived already," he murmured, and I looked up. "They're waiting to speak with you."

"What's up?" I asked, puzzled by the odd tone in his voice.

"I think I'd better let them tell you."

Edward's bemused expression roused my curiosity. "O…kay…" I murmured, turning to look toward the house. It was a little frustrating, knowing that he already knew what was going on, but I didn't push him, too busy focusing on the coming encounter.

"Just give me a moment to get my head in the right space," I asked, and Edward soothingly rubbed my back while I took some deep breaths, like a diver preparing to go deep without using scuba gear. Of course, I didn't _need _to saturate my cells with oxygen, but psychologically, I found it was a useful ploy to prepare in this way in case I needed to hold my breath…not that I expected to have any problems with Charlie's scent after the way I'd spent the afternoon.

Relieved that I could no longer blush, I shook my head to try and dispel the decidedly erotic images still crowding my mind as I prepared to visit with my dad.

"You okay?" Edward asked, and I squeezed his hand.

"Yep…all set. Are they in the house?"

"Actually, Jasper thinks it might be best if you speak with them outside, just in case you find what they have to say distressing, and you need to make a quick getaway."

My eyes widened at Edward's words. "Is this about Renee?" I asked in a worried tone, and he quickly shook his head.

"No, it's not bad news, from either of them, just…_unexpected. _I'm sure you'll be fine with it._"_

I clearly wasn't going to get any more out of my at times annoyingly discreet husband, so with a resigned sigh, I gestured toward the house.

"Come on then, Mr. Cryptic. Let's go see Charlie and Jake."

Edward whistled, signaling that we were returning, and Charlie and Jacob soon appeared on the back patio with Jasper right behind them. I assumed the others were staying in the house to at least give us a semblance of privacy. I nodded a greeting but my focus was on Charlie.

"What's wrong, Dad?" I asked after embracing him in a very careful hug and then moving back a little way so that his scent wasn't quite so overpowering.

"Nothing's wrong," he assured me. "I just…" His words cut off with a groan, and then he ran a hand over his face.

"Dad?" I cried, taking a panicked step toward him.

In an instant, Edward had wrapped his arm around my shoulders, holding me gently but with firm insistence.

"You're worrying her unnecessarily," he rebuked Charlie, though he kept his tone polite.

"Yeah…just spit it out, Chief," Jacob added with a smirk, and my mood flashed from worry to annoyance in an instant since it appeared that everyone knew what was going on except me.

Puffing out an angry breath, I welcomed Jasper's soothing talent when he came to stand beside me, painfully aware of how dangerous a loss of control around my dad could be.

"Whatever it is, just tell me," I pleaded, and Charlie shot me an apologetic look.

"Sorry, Bells," he muttered, clearly embarrassed. "It's just…well…I don't quite know how to say this, and I realize the timing is off, what with everything that you've been going through, and then there's these Volturi on their way, but…"

"But?" I prompted when he hesitated.

"I've met someone," he blurted and then visibly tensed, waiting for my response.

I stared at him blankly for a long moment, and then my brow furrowed. "_Met someone? _Met someone?" I asked, my voice rising in pitch. He nodded, and I went back to staring blankly with no idea what to say.

Charlie cast an uncomfortable glance at our attentive audience, and I realized how difficult this must be for him, talking about personal matters in front of people he'd only just met.

I snorted. Charlie didn't like talking about personal matters…period.

"Do I know her?" I asked when he offered nothing more, a shake of his head his only response. Stifling a groan, I decided to take a seat on one of the comfortable outdoor chairs scattered around the patio as it was clear this could take a while. It was for Charlie's benefit, and he and the others followed my example, drawing their chairs into a rough circle. Once they were all settled, I waited for him to continue.

"Why don't you just start at the beginning?" I prompted eventually, and he nodded jerkily.

"You sure you're okay with this?" he asked, and I grimaced.

"You haven't told me enough to be okay about anything," I retorted. "But, Dad, this is _me._Just tell me what's going on already. I'm sure I'll be fine with it."

Jacob snickered but quickly shut up when I glowered at him.

"Right…of course," Charlie continued, and I braced myself to take whatever he had to say calmly. This was a good thing, I reminded myself, as I'd been hoping he'd find someone to care for and to care for him since I'd been a little girl.

"It's Linda," he blurted. "Sue Clearwater's cousin. She came to help Sue after Harry's surgery and Seth's, er…_accident_."

"I remember. You met her at the hospital when you went to visit Harry." I nodded, encouraging him to continue as I felt my fears calm. Things couldn't be too serious between them as that had been less than two weeks earlier, I mused, discounting the thought that it had taken me a matter of minutes to fall for Edward.

"Yes…we met at the hospital," Charlie confirmed, still looking uneasy. "She had to go home for a few days. But now she's back…to stay."

"And you're…_dating_?" I asked, wondering how on earth they'd found time with everything that was going on.

"Not quite," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

"So…what then?" I shrugged, a bit bewildered by all the drama.

"Linda imprinted on your dad," Jacob blurted, and Charlie dropped his head into his hands, groaning.

"Linda's a wolf?" I gasped.

"Nope." Jake shrugged. "But she's got the gene, apparently, and we think she would have phased if she'd come across any bloodsuckers, um…I mean, _vamps_, when she was younger."

I was rendered speechless, my eyes shooting between my dad and Jacob while my mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

"It's not all that surprising, when you think that both her cousin's children have phased. They share a common ancestry, but Linda moved away when she was younger," Edward added, and I squeezed his hand, grateful to him for filling the silence while I tried to make sense of Jake's declaration.

"She's not a wolf but she _imprinted?_ On my_ dad?_" I knew enough from what Jake had told us to know that imprinting was not something to take lightly.

"Yeah…pretty much." Jacob nodded. "It happened the first time she saw him, of course, but she didn't tell anyone. In fact, she was totally freaked out and tried to run away from what she was feeling. Fat chance that would have worked," he finished with a mutter.

"Dad?" I prompted, and he reluctantly met my now worried gaze. "How do you feel about this?"

The breath caught in my throat at the expression that stole over Charlie's normally stoic features. His eyes lit up and a soft smile curved his mouth.

"I know it's too soon…but it's not like we're kids…not that there's any rush or anything…but I, er…" He shrugged and then cleared his throat. "I think I love her, Bells," he whispered hoarsely.

I sat back stunned. "Wow," I murmured. "I mean…just…wow."

With a glance to Jasper for assistance and Edward beside me, I held my breath, to be on the safe side, and went to give my dad another hug. When I was safely back in my seat, I took a breath so that I had air to speak and then asked, "So what happens now?"

As my surprise wore off, I realized how happy and excited I was for my dad and maybe a little scared. He'd been alone for so long, and I didn't want him to get hurt. But if Linda really had imprinted on him, and if he cared about her in return, then there probably wasn't anything to worry about, other than getting used to the idea of my dad having someone in his life.

Charlie sat forward in his seat, but before he could answer, Jacob interjected. "That's only the half of it, Bells," he muttered with a grimace.

"What do you mean?" I demanded, wondering what else there could be.

There was a long pause during which neither Jake nor Charlie would meet my eyes.

"Enough of this." I turned to Edward, my expression fierce. "Just tell me what the heck's going on."

Edward glanced toward Jacob and then nodded. Facing me square on, he took both of my hands in his, and I felt my heart rise into my throat with fear over what might be coming next.

"Bella, sweetheart," he began, reaching to stroke my hair back from my face and tuck a loose lock behind my ear. "Jacob imprinted, too."

"On Linda?" I whispered, aghast. "Is that even possible?" I'd heard of love triangles, but this was ridiculous.

"No! Not Linda." Jacob stood up. "On her daughter…April."

"Oh!" I cried, one hand rising to my chest with relief. "Well that's…that's wonderful, Jake."

"Really? You don't mind?" he asked, and I frowned.

"Why would I mind?" I shook my head, bewildered.

"Because I've been such an ass!" He threw his hands in the air. "I was so angry with you for falling in love with Edward, and then I made this big fuss about how _I _was in love with you and always would be, and now…" He slumped back into his seat with a sigh, resting his elbows on his knees with his hands hanging between his legs. "And now I feel like the biggest jerk on the planet."

"Don't, Jake." I smiled softly to reassure him. "I get it…it's okay."

"I really do love you, Bella," he murmured with tears shining in his eyes. "And I always will," he continued, his voice a hoarse whisper.

"I love you, too, Jake," I choked out past the lump in my throat, and despite our supposedly mortal enemy status, we found ourselves in each other's arms for the first time since I'd become a vampire.

The hug didn't last very long. Jake's new—to _me—_wet dog smell was overpowering up close. Then there was the temperature difference between us now, which was extreme. Jake was _incredibly _hot, which actually felt kind of nice, but I had a feeling that being wrapped in my icy coolness wouldn't be as pleasant an experience for him. There was also the issue of my scent, though how anyone could find the sweet, tantalizing vampire fragrance unpleasant was beyond me.

Not surprisingly, he pulled back first, shivering.

"Sorry…I just." He shrugged, and I smiled in understanding, more than happy to feel Edward's arms encircling me and not so subtly pulling me back against him as soon as Jake let go. What I didn't appreciate was the low growl that rumbled from my husband's chest, and so I elbowed him in the ribs to make him stop. There was absolutely no need for jealousy, even if it was a little flattering.

"So…we're good?" Jake asked when he'd stopped rubbing his twitching nose.

"We're more than good, we're great," I assured him. "I'm so happy for you. Why don't you tell me all about April…and Linda?" I added to Charlie who was watching on.

"She's wonderful!" Jacob and Charlie said in unison, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

We decided that Charlie should go first, and I learned that Linda was thirty-four, a nursing aide, and widowed, with one daughter. Her husband, who was a Quileute, had died in a car accident when April was little.

"She sounds great, Dad," I offered, and he smiled.

"We've been spending as much time together as we can which, admittedly, hasn't been a lot. But I think you're really going to like her."

I nodded, wondering whether she'd like me_._

"Does she know about me…about us?" I asked, gesturing around me.

"She does now," Jake muttered glumly.

"Because of the imprinting?" I asked. "I thought you had to have actually made the transformation to wolf for that to happen?"

"So did we." Jake shrugged. "But we think the gene must be dominant in Linda, and sort of partially activated when she came back to Forks. She injured her leg pretty badly in the accident that killed April's dad, and Sam thinks that sort of thing prevents the transformation happening. Otherwise, she might have phased, though the rest of us were teenagers or in our early twenties, not early thirties."

"What about her daughter, April? Is she a wolf or going to become one? How old is she anyway?"

It was Charlie's turn to chuckle and for Jacob to look uncomfortable.

"She's thirteen," Jake mumbled, so low that I wouldn't have heard him without my vampire hearing. "And yeah…we think so."

"Wow," I said for what felt like the umpteenth time. "Thirteen. Jake that's, like…_young."_

"Tell me about it," he grumbled. "But she doesn't look it. She could easily pass for fifteen or sixteen, which is one of the reasons Sam thinks she's going to phase soon. Actually, that's something we thought you might be able to help with," he added, causing both me and Edward to stiffen and pull back, though not for the same reasons.

"You want me to _frighten _her to force the change?" I scowled, not liking the idea at all.

"No, they want you to smell her blood," Edward growled.

"Me?" I turned back to Jake while stroking Edward's arm reassuringly. "I'm a newborn, remember? You think that's wise?"

"Well, you weren't affected by Harry's or Billy's blood, and they both carry the gene. So I don't think there'd be much danger in you being near her," Jacob explained, holding up a placating hand when Edward's growling grew louder. "But I actually brought some of her blood over in a bottle…just a few drops…for you to smell."

That seemed okay, though Edward was clearly upset by the idea, and I turned to him puzzled.

"It's still blood, Bella," he explained. "I just don't like it."

I wasn't too worried, but I was confused. "Why me?" I asked, turning back to Jake. "I mean…why not Carlisle or any of the others?"

"We already tried that." Jake shrugged. "But all they can tell is that April's blood smells a little off, not whether she's going to phase or not. You're this super-sensitive, super-powered newborn, so I thought you might be able to tell."

It was my turn to shrug. "Sure, why not?" I offered, and Jake produced a little plastic vial.

I didn't expect to have any major reaction to it, considering how unappealing I'd found Harry's and Billy's scent, but to be on the safe side—and to get further away from my dad's admittedly delicious-smelling blood which had a tendency to overwhelm my senses—I took the bottle and dashed over to the edge of the clearing. After taking a quick whiff, I returned almost immediately.

"It's different from Harry's and Billy's scent…stronger. Smells just like your blood, Jake," I said, puzzled by the look that appeared on his face.

"She's going to be a wolf…like me?" he rasped, clearly stunned.

"Guess so." I shrugged, wondering why he was making such a big deal out of it. Then I remembered that all of the other imprinted wolves had partners who were human and that they'd have to stop phasing one day or their mates would age and die while they stayed young.

Smiling, I realized just how amazing this was. It meant that Jacob and April could have immortality together if they wanted it. Not to mention that they could be together as humans or wolves, and I didn't have to lose Jake one day. He could stay as my friend forever.

I was about to tell Jacob how happy I was for him and that I couldn't wait to meet April when Edward groaned and looked toward the French doors just as Emmett walked through.

"Hey, Jake," Emmett called, coming to pat him soundly on the shoulder. "Congratulations, buddy. Sounds like your new girlfriend's going to be sprouting fur before too long. Does that mean you guys will have puppies one day?"

Emmett didn't wait for an answer but took off across the backyard with Jacob right behind him, his outraged yell becoming a fierce, wolfish growl as he phased on the fly. They quickly disappeared from sight, the noise of their flight and intermittent tussles growing distant even as fragments of Jake's clothing and shoes slowly settled to the ground nearby.

We all burst out laughing, including Alice, Rose, Carlisle, and Esme who'd come to join us, all except for Charlie who groaned and dropped his head back in his hands.

"Dad?" I asked, worried. "What's wrong?"

"Oh…nothing," he grumbled, lifting his eyes to mine, his expression rueful. "Just coming to terms with the fact that my daughter, the one who I thought had been killed in an explosion, is fine…she's just a vampire now and married—at _seventeen—_to another perpetually seventeen-year-old vampire. They both have super-powers and are wanted by the deadliest predators ever to walk the face of the earth. On top of that, I've fallen instantly, and it would seem irrevocably, in love with a beautiful woman whose _thirteen-_year-old daughter may soon be my responsibility…mine and Sam's, of course, as once she turns into a wolf, he'll be her pack-leader. And then there's Jake, also a wolf and son of my best friend, who one day—and somehow I think that day is going to be a whole lot sooner than I'd like—is going to end up as my son-in-law. Other than that, Bells, everything's peachy."

Edward surprised me by snorting, and I elbowed him in the side again but not too hard. It was kind of funny.

Not sure how to comfort Charlie as I was pretty certain we'd used up our quota of hugs for the day, I chewed on my lower lip for a moment until an idea came to mind. The Denalis were due to arrive the next morning, and then those of us who were going would be heading up to the rendezvous point the day after to await the Volturi. This was probably our last opportunity for some relatively quiet family time for who knew how long…or if ever, though I quickly pushed that disturbing thought to the back of my mind.

"Hey, Dad," I offered. "I made enough food to feed an army. How'd you like to call Linda and invite her and April over for dinner? Sam could bring them since he and Billy are coming anyway."

"You wouldn't mind?" He seemed surprised by my suggestion.

"Or course not, it's my idea." I shrugged. "Besides, I'm pretty excited about meeting the lady who's captured your heart after all these years, not to mention Jake's new girlfriend."

"What? No!" Jacob shouted from the edge of the clearing, his naked form hidden by some dense bushes but only just. "April can't come here now. I haven't got any spare clothes!"

"Shoulda thought of that before you busted out of the ones you were wearing," Emmett chuckled as he wandered back, his own clothes hanging from his body in tatters. "But don't worry," he continued. "We're about the same size, so I can lend you some of mine."

"That's even worse," Jacob retorted, clearly outraged. "She won't want to come near me because of the stink!"

"Hey!" I called back. "Who are you calling stinky?"

"You guys!" Jake shouted. "Sorry, but you smell like ammonia. It smells terrible and burns like crazy."

"Gotta be better than your wet dog smell," I countered.

"Kids…enough," Charlie groused. "You both smell just fine, but if it worries you that much, Jake, I'll ask Billy to bring over some clothes for you…that's if you've got any left, the way you keep tearing through them."

"Thanks, Pa," Jake teased, and the look on Charlie's face was so priceless, I burst out laughing, something I hadn't done in a while but that felt very, very good.

"Is that okay with you, Esme, if Linda and April come over this evening?" I asked when I finally stopped giggling and remembered that I should probably check.

"Of course it is, dear." She smiled warmly. "It's an excellent idea. Plus, I think it would be a good idea for Edward to meet the woman who may well be his future stepmother-in-law."

I chuckled briefly at the look of fear that quickly replaced the smirk on Edward's face, but then my smile faded as Esme's words caused a pang in the region of my heart.

Edward had yet to meet Renee, but I wasn't about to give up on the dream of seeing my family reunited…no matter how high the odds were stacked against us.

_~OB~_

**_I hope that gave you a bit of a chuckle, as I'm thinking we've got some interesting times up ahead._**

**_I love to hear from you guys. Thanks so much for the encouragement and inspiration. :D_**

**_Did anyone see all that coming? _**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	50. Greetings and Farewells

**_Stephenie Meyers owns Twilight. I have an awesome family who make me believe in Happily Ever Afters despite all the real life dramas that tend to get in the way._**

**_Special thanks to my lovely betas and prereader: Squeaky Zorro, Chloe Cougar and Content1. I am incredibly grateful for your support, and hope you, and all Once Bitten's readers, have a wonderful Mother's Day._**

**_Updated: Sunday, 13th May 2012  
>Words: 6177<em>**

Chapter 50

Greetings and Farewells

BPOV

Whizzing around the kitchen doing last minute preparations for dinner, I was surprised by how nervous I felt at the prospect of meeting Linda and April. Charlie had gone to wait out front for their arrival, and it seemed like no time had passed before I heard Sam's truck coming down the driveway.

"It'll be fine, Bella," Edward assured me, stepping into my path to halt my harried movements and draw me into his arms. Grateful for our connection, I gladly burrowed into his soothing embrace before pulling back to look up into his warm, amber eyes.

"I know." I nodded but a little wanly. "I've just never known Charlie to have a girlfriend before, or Jake for that matter, and now they've both found someone. Not that I'm complaining, but there's the whole imprinting thing going on which makes it all so serious right from the start. It's not like I knew either Linda or April when I was still human, and now I'm worried that they might not…" My words trailed away, and I pulled a face.

"You're worried they might not like you because you're a vampire?" Edward finished for me.

"Something like that." I shrugged.

"Never happen!" Emmett called from the front porch. Since Emm was at least partially at fault for Jacob's nakedness, he'd offered to run the clothes Billy was bringing to where my friend was still pacing impatiently just out of sight on the edge of the forest.

Emmett's words were soon echoed in varying forms by the other members of Edward's family from their various locations around the house.

_My family, too_, I reminded myself, as, one by one, they came into the kitchen and offered their encouragement.

"Bella, you're one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I've ever met, and I cannot imagine anyone _not _adoring you," Esme stated emphatically, her expression and tone both so sweetly determined that I couldn't help but smile in response.

"You're the most compassionate newborn I've ever come across," Jasper added wryly, and my smile turned into a smirk.

"When I'm not trying to fry people," I joked.

"Hey!" Alice came to stand in front of me, placing her hands on my shoulders and looking sternly up into my eyes. "You are my newest, bestest friend…and my sister…and a Cullen…and you only zap people when provoked, frightened, or ordered to by my military commander of a husband," she added, shooting Jasper a disapproving look.

"She's right," Rose added, waiting for Alice to move out of the way so that she could give me a slightly awkward hug. "We all love having you as part of the family…even if Edward was a dick for attacking you in school." She shot him a look, and I winced, waiting for the black cloud that normally accompanied any mention of the events that had led to me becoming a vampire to descend over Edward's head. This time he surprised me by smiling and pulling me back into his arms.

"While I will be eternally sorry for what I did, and we all know I don't deserve the happiness you've brought me, I could never regret having you as my wife, Bella." His soft but intensely spoken declaration surprised me even further, and I melted into his embrace.

"Well said, son," Carlisle murmured, coming to pat Edward on the shoulder. "Except for the part about not deserving happiness. I believe you and Bella _both _deserve all the joy that being with your one true love for a lifetime can bring."

"A very, very _long _lifetime," I added, touched by Edward's words and knowing we'd have plenty of time to explore the feelings they aroused…later. For now, I needed to pull myself together, as my prospective stepmother and stepsister had arrived and were about to enter the house.

"We all good, or do you need a minute, Bells?" Charlie called from the front porch, and the others looked to me. I took a couple of quick deep breaths in preparation, but having already been with Charlie for a while earlier in the evening, I was reasonably acclimatized to his scent.

"I'm fine," I murmured, and Carlisle went to usher the guests inside. The rest of us moved through to the front room in time to see Charlie enter, hand in hand, with a very attractive Native American woman followed by a stunningly pretty but extremely unhappy-looking girl. Sam and Billy brought up the rear, and Billy took the initiative to make the introductions.

Linda's and April's pounding heartbeats broadcast the nervousness they were both feeling about being introduced to a room full of vampires, and I was glad their scent was so unappealing. No one offered to shake hands, which I thought wise under the circumstances, but the Cullens' smiles and words of welcome were warm.

"Hi," I murmured with a shy wave of my hand from across the room when it was my turn to offer a greeting.

"It's very nice to meet you all," Linda responded, her voice wavering with nerves. Charlie gave her a comforting look, wrapping his arm securely around her shoulder, and she leaned into his side. I'd never seen anyone look at my dad that way before, and I had to force my mouth not to hang open.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Linda," I offered, taking a few cautious steps closer. "You, too, April."

Linda smiled at me, albeit tentatively, but April crossed her arms, her expression belligerent.

"Yeah, well…there's no pleasure in any of this for me," she muttered, turning to stare pointedly off to the side.

She was a very beautiful girl who could have easily passed for sixteen or seventeen, even if she wasn't behaving in a manner that was particularly mature. Her long, straight black hair hung to her waist, and her already hour-glass figure was complemented by perfectly even features and a tall, lithe frame.

Before any of us could respond to her comment, Jake burst through the door, still in the process of buttoning up his shirt.

"Hey!" he cried, rushing up to April. "I'm here."

"Oh, goody," she muttered darkly, her sulk becoming even more pronounced.

My eyebrows shot up, and I looked to Edward who was having trouble hiding his smirk.

"It would seem that Jacob's new girlfriend is fighting the inevitable," he murmured, too quietly for the non-vampires to hear.

"What did I miss?" Jake continued, oblivious to the tension in the room.

"Not much," April retorted sarcastically. "Just happy family introduction time between the humans, wolves, and vampires."

"April, that's enough," her mother rebuked, but rather than being irritated by her rudeness, I found myself feeling unexpectedly sorry for the girl. I could only imagine how overwhelmed she must be by all the revelations she'd been confronted with in a very short space of time along with the changes occurring in her own body. I understood that feeling all too well…of the world suddenly being turned upside down.

April might not have made the initial transition to wolf yet, but from what I recalled from Sam's explanation of the process, it seemed like she mustn't be far off. Heightened aggression and moodiness were indicators along with rapid growth and physical maturity. It was a lot for a thirteen-year-old to deal with.

Smiling my reassurance to Jake who looked confused by April's attitude, I suggested we all head into the dining room where dinner was served buffet style.

"I don't care what the rest of you do, but I'm not eating vampire food," April muttered, and I faltered in my step, uncertain how to proceed.

"Bella doesn't cook vampire food," Alice chimed, bouncing up to April with a cheerful smile on her face and ignoring the girl's defensive recoil. "We don't actually like our food cooked," she added conspiratorially. "But the humans seem to really enjoy the meals Bella makes, so I'd give it a go if I were you…otherwise the wolf-boys will scarf it all down and you'll go hungry."

"Whatever." April scowled, but I could tell she didn't quite know what to make of Alice's chirpy manner.

"Come on, April," Jake pleaded. "Bella's an amazing cook. Seriously, you're going to love whatever she makes. I know I always do."

From an insecure teenage girl's perspective, it was the worst possible thing to say. I winced at the mutinous expression that appeared on April's face, not at all surprised by her reaction.

"Well, _you _eat your vampire girlfriend's food then if it's so amazing," she huffed and turned to storm off, only to be intercepted by her mother.

"April!" Linda rebuked, grabbing her daughter's arm, clearly embarrassed.

Jake rushed to his imprint's side, his expression panicked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say the wrong thing. I won't eat anything if you want."

April's expression didn't soften initially, but then Jake's stomach growled loudly in protest, emphasizing the sacrifice he was willing to make. Emmett snorted while the rest of us waited to see how April would react, expelling a collective sigh of relief when she giggled. It was a lovely sound, and she suddenly seemed much closer to her real age. But then she linked her arm with Jake's and shot me a highly possessive look.

"No, Jake, that's all right," she simpered, fluttering her eyelashes in a way I'd read about often enough in the various worlds of Jane Austen but had rarely seen in real life. "You need to eat." With that she swept past where Edward and I were standing, muttering in an aside that I assumed we weren't supposed to hear when she saw the food spread out on the table. "At least it looks like real food, not bottles of blood and slabs of raw meat."

"Actually, we leave the raw meat to the wolves," Rosalie pointed out, her tone deceptively sweet while her statuesque blonde frame emitted a subtly menacing vibe. "And we prefer our blood fresh from the vein."

April hesitated, her eyes widening as she stepped closer to Jake, not seeming to mind when he put an arm comfortingly around her shoulder. But then her brow furrowed and, ignoring Rosalie, she turned to Jake and demanded, "You guys eat raw meat?"

"Not when we're human!" He grimaced. "But yeah…we sometimes hunt and eat wild animals when we're in wolf form, especially if we've been on patrol for a while and we're a long way from civilization. It's pretty hungry work running for hours on end."

I was surprised by Jake's admission and a little indignant when I recalled his blood-sucker comments. I'd be having a word with him about that when we got a moment alone, not that I expected that to happen in a hurry. April had clasped his hand with hers and didn't seem to be in any hurry to let go, taking a place at the table by his side, thankfully without further comment. Her brow stayed furrowed, but she accepted the dishes when they were offered, reluctantly taking a serving. After a few cautious mouthfuls she let go of her hostility enough to tuck into the meal with almost as much gusto as the men.

Esme, ever the gracious host—her ability to put people at ease bordering on the super-natural as far as I was concerned—kept the conversation flowing, and the tension soon dissipated.

The Denalis arrived just as dinner was finishing, their numbers reduced to three: Eleazar, Carmen, and Kate. Irina had stayed behind with Laurent, who'd professed an interest in pursuing the Denalis' alternate lifestyle along with a relationship with Irina. Alice had some doubts about the long-time nomad's sincerity, but if he and Irina were truly mated, then I supposed that anything was possible. I'd do anything for Edward, as he would for me. Abstaining from killing humans so as to be able to spend eternity with the one you loved seemed like an easy choice to me. But then, I hadn't spent close to three hundred years pandering to the monster that becoming a vampire had birthed within me.

I shuddered at the thought of how different things would have been if I'd been changed by someone other than Edward and hadn't had the Cullens to guide me. Sensing my distress, Edward tightened the arm he had wrapped around my shoulders, and I leaned into his side, grateful for the way things were when faced with how much worse they could be.

I hoped that things would work out for Irina. She and her sisters had been alone for an unthinkable length of time, not counting their succubae relationships which seemed to be more about finding momentary pleasure and a reprieve from their unending loneliness than a true meeting of hearts and minds. Now that they were burdened with the added grief of Tanya's long-term and more recent betrayal, the Denalis were in desperate need of something positive to look forward to. Not that any of us were thinking long term…just yet. The Volturi would be arriving in less than forty-eight hours, and all of our attention was focused on the coming confrontation.

With serious matters to discuss, Billy offered to take Linda and April home. While I gathered they weren't keeping any secrets from the two, the young girl's feisty attitude had faded over the course of the evening, and she'd begun to look flushed and unwell.

"Sam thinks she could phase any time now, probably in the next few days," Edward murmured to me in an aside making me even more determined to forgive her snarkiness. Being in the presence of so many vampires was no doubt accelerating the genetic imperative driving her body toward its initial transformation, and I recalled Jake telling me how aggressive and out of control he'd felt leading up to and in the early day of his change.

Charlie indicated he wanted to stay and hear our final plans then took a moment to say a private goodbye to Linda. I wasn't all that surprised when Jake offered to go with April since he could get the information directly from Sam later on and couldn't seem to take his eyes off his imprint. But I wasn't expecting the words he whispered in my ear when he gave me a hug of farewell, ignoring April's glare.

"Stay safe, Bells," he murmured, his large, heat-radiating body engulfing me in an embrace that felt quite gentle despite the fact that I could tell he was squeezing tightly. "I won't be coming with you guys. April could phase any time now, and she'll need me to help her."

There'd been a lot of grumbling and teasing about who Sam would choose to leave behind to protect the tribe along with Colin and Brady, the youngest members of the wolf pack, as none of the older wolves wanted to miss out on the excitement. They seemed eager for a fight, whereas the Cullens were all hoping and praying for a peaceful resolution. For Jake to have volunteered was a powerful testimony to the strength of his feelings for April, as there'd been no question of him being left behind the last time I'd seen him, just two days earlier before Linda's return and him seeing April for the first time.

"You'll keep Charlie safe?" I whispered, ignoring April's death stare as I searched Jake's eyes.

"With my life," he vowed.

Neither of us mentioned the fact that if we were unsuccessful in placating the Volturi's ire, then it was unlikely that any of us would be safe. Not only were they coming to forcibly recruit the talented half of Carlisle's family into their guard, probably intent on using some perceived slight as justification, there was the whole issue of Caius' irrational hatred for wolves to contend with. For everybody's sake, both family and friend, we could not afford to come off the loser in whatever confrontation lay ahead. But it was a weight off my mind to know that my dad, who'd promised to stay at the reservation while the Volturi were in the vicinity, would be well protected.

"Thanks, Jake." I smiled and hugged him in return, quickly letting go when the air rushed from his lungs.

"Oops…sorry," I cringed, and he shrugged it off with a hoarse laugh.

Edward stepped forward, wrapping his arm securely around my shoulder and adding his own words of gratitude. For a moment, I didn't think Jacob was going to respond, but then he reached to shake my new husband's hand…the love of my life and my oldest friend putting aside their differences in the face of this new enemy that threatened us all.

The rest of the evening was spent going over our plans leading up to and including the Volturi's arrival. We, the Cullens and Denalis, would be leaving for the rendezvous place the next night, hunting along the way so that we would all be at full strength when Aro and the others arrived. There was the slight chance we'd encounter campers along the way to the airfield. But with eleven of us traveling together, we'd devised a plan to send couples scouting ahead in order to direct Edward and me along the safest route to avoid the risk of my being lured by the scent of human blood. My self-control continued to astound Jasper, but we all agreed that now was not the time to put it to any further test.

Sam and the pack would also be traveling overland in wolf form and remaining that way, with Edward acting as translator until the danger had passed. They might all be extremely strong and muscular-looking individuals, even Leah, but their human forms were no match for the strength of a vampire.

As to our defense strategy, it mostly seemed to hinge on my being able to protect our group with my shield for long enough for Carlisle to attempt to reason with Aro. He wanted to convince him that we had no intention of questioning or threatening the authority of the Volturi, but that we were able to protect ourselves if necessary and should be left in peace. While a peaceful resolution was our preferred option, and it pained Carlisle to consider the need for violence, he was aware that things might not work out the way he hoped. To assist us, he'd drawn likenesses of the key members of the guard and pointed out those individuals that I should try to incapacitate if it came to a fight.

It was a good idea in theory, but since I was yet to show that sort of selective control, I thought it more likely that we'd end up using my last resort back-up plan. If the Volturi became aggressive, and in particular if I thought lives might be lost, I would call on all those close by to link up and then try to blast the rest, hopefully not doing too much damage to friend or foe but frightening the Volturi enough to leave us alone…that was if my shield protected me from Jane's and Alec's talents.

There was just so much we didn't know for sure, in particular how both I and my shield would cope under pressure. It was a lot of responsibility, and I was actually glad I didn't need to sleep or eat normal food, because I seriously doubted my nerves would have allowed me to do either. Blood, of course, was different.

Edward eventually called a halt to the strategizing when it became obvious we were just going over the same ground and that I'd reached the end of my tether. In another example of my atypical vampire behavior, my left knee wouldn't stop jiggling, and it took a combination of Edward's soothing caresses and Jasper's supernatural support to calm my growing apprehension enough for me to sit still.

"You okay, Bells?" Charlie asked, casting a look around the room, clearly uncomfortable with our audience.

Charlie was a very private person, but spending time alone together far enough away from where everyone could overhear our conversation wasn't exactly an option at the moment.

Before I had a chance to respond to his question, Alice disappeared from the room and then returned to dash to my side, placing a cell phone in my hand before crossing to Charlie and handing him a card.

"This is the number for Bella's new phone," she explained at Charlie's startled look. "If you wait to call her from the end of the road and she takes the call in the basement, you can speak without being overheard."

"Oh…thanks," Charlie murmured, taken aback by the way things worked in my new family.

"Okay if I call you in a couple of minutes?" He gestured toward me with the card.

"Sure, Dad, I'll be waiting."

We said our goodbyes, and then I made my way down to the basement room uncharacteristically alone. Edward had understood immediately, and said he'd join me when I was finished talking with Charlie. So, for the first time since my dad found out that I was still alive, we were going to get the chance to speak privately.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I took Charlie's call when it came a few minutes later.

"Hi, Dad," I answered on the first ring, a catch in my throat. We'd spoken. We'd even hugged, but this felt different somehow.

"Hi, sweetheart," he murmured gruffly. There was silence for a moment, and then he asked, "You want to tell me how you're really doing?"

"I'm fine," I declared, the confidence I was trying to project undermined by the waver in my voice.

"Your might sound different, but I can still tell when something's bothering you," Charlie insisted, and I sighed.

"Just stressing about this crazy shield of mine," I admitted.

"Yeah, there seems to be a lot resting on your shoulders. I'd tell you not to worry, but I can't say that I blame you. Just wish I could be there to help."

"I know," I murmured, secretly glad that he couldn't. I felt the same about Jake. This way two of the people I loved would be a safe distance away if things went badly…at least initially. I still wanted to urge them all to get as far away as they could from Forks and hide, but Carlisle insisted that wasn't wise and wouldn't work as the Volturi could track them down if they wanted to.

On a lighter note, Charlie asked me what I thought about Linda.

"She's great," I assured him. "And I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks," he murmured softly before apologizing that it didn't look like he'd be volunteering to become a vampire anytime soon.

"I appreciate that you offered," I told him, relief evident in my tone. "It was an amazing thing you were willing to do, but I _want_ you to stay human, Dad, and be happy."

My hope was that the Volturi wouldn't be upset about Charlie knowing the secret now that he was officially linked to the Quileutes, that was if they didn't decide that the entire tribe was a threat.

"Well, I don't want to keep you for too long," Charlie offered when our words began to fail. "You've got a big couple of days ahead of you, and you need your rest. Well…you know what I mean."

"Sure, Dad, I do." I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat at his words. "I'll call you before we head off tomorrow and as soon I have any news."

"Thanks. I appreciate it," he said, and then the line went quiet, but I was reluctant to say goodbye.

"One last thing, Bells," he asked, and I hummed for him to continue. "You and Edward seem happy together, but I'd like to know…do you really love him, or do you think it's just the vampire bonding thing? He did attack you and all, so it wasn't exactly the best start to the relationship. I'd hate to think you were only with him because you didn't think you had any choice."

Smiling at the way my dad's protectiveness extended to my new vampire life, I took a moment to reply.

"You don't have to worry, Dad. I really do love Edward, more than I thought possible," I assured him. "I know it couldn't have worked out, but I actually fell for him before he bit me, when I was still human. Maybe it's for the best this way, as I can't imagine life without him. I'm just sorry that what happened has put you and Mom through so much," I finished hoarsely.

"Not your fault, Bells," he insisted gruffly. "As long as you're happy, that's all your mother and I care about. Maybe we'll find a way to let her know that you're okay one day…like in a dream or with some mystic message or something. She's into that sort of thing, and would probably buy it."

"That's a great idea," I laughed, choking a little on the lump in my throat. He chuckled dryly and then we fell back into silence, neither of us wanting to say goodbye.

"I love you, Dad," I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut as I held tightly to my composure..

"Me, too, Bells," he rasped. "Always have, always will."

I'd barely dropped the phone before Edward was at my side, holding me close while my body was racked with dry, painful sobs.

"Shh, baby," he murmured, rocking me in his arms. "It's going to be okay. Everything's going to turn out fine."

_~OB~_

EPOV

How my life had changed, I mused as I held my beloved wife in my arms and did my best to console her. It wasn't like me to make a promise that I didn't know I could keep. I'd always been the least likely member of the family to put an optimistic spin on a potentially disastrous situation, but I'd do anything for Bella…be anything she needed. The pressure she'd been under since Alice's terrifying call and the realization that had accompanied it, that Bella's shield was our best hope of success and survival, had been horrendous. I was determined to do whatever it took to lift the burden, even if only temporarily.

Alice and Jasper had twice traveled far enough away from Quileute territory for her to use her gift without obstruction, but to little effect. With the wolves involved, she could only manage to catch a few glimpses of what might occur, the images chaotic, violent and far from conclusive. I'd asked her to try and see what would occur if we kept the wolves away, but that seemed to guarantee Aro and his cohort visiting Forks…not something any of us wanted to risk. Hoping to find reassurance about the eventual outcome, if not the specifics of how it would be accomplished, she'd looked to the future and had returned subdued and hiding what she'd seen.

"It's not that I see no future for us," she'd told me in an almost silent whisper after beckoning for me to join her away from the house. "But there are just so many potential outcomes, and some of them are too terrible to contemplate. I'd go through them all with you, but the events preceding are fragmented, and I have no idea what steps we should take to try and prevent one outcome or assure another. All I know for sure is that success or failure rests on Bella's shoulders…and that's just so unfair. She's so young, and you two have only just found each other, and I couldn't bear it if things go badly."

I'd taken Alice's into my arms, her body shaking with silent, tearless cries, and tried to comfort her with the same doubtful promises I was now offering my wife. It was all I had to offer, and I hated the feeling of helplessness.

"Edward, could you hear me talking to Charlie? Did he not go far enough away before he called?" Bella's softly spoken question refocused my attention, and I reached to kiss the top of her head.

"I heard his thoughts…well, some of them. You know how it is for me with your father. But don't worry, the others didn't hear your conversation, and I tried not to listen in…just catching the goodbye."

"I don't mind if you heard," she whispered, snuggling close. "He just wanted to know how I was coping and if I was happy with you…and I am."

"Come here, sweetheart," I murmured, kicking off my shoes and moving to lay down on the new, larger and much sturdier bed that now took up a fair amount of space in the otherwise almost completely bared room. Esme and the girls had repaired the damage, again, and redecorated, transferring all of Bella's treasures to my old room and turning this one into a very comfortable but more mature-looking love-nest, for want of a better description.

Bella followed my lead, kicked off her shoes before resting her head on one of the plush gold pillows and turning to face me. Our hands met and gently entwined, and for a long moment we silently communed with soft touches and eyes that gradually darkened.

"You really believe everything's going to work out okay?" she eventually asked, and I faced my moment of truth. _Should I be honest with her, or should I lie?_

"I can't conceive of a future where it doesn't, where we're not together, so I'm not even allowing for that possibility," I hedged, but she seemed satisfied with the answer.

"Tell me about the future." Her eyes brightened with the question, and I smiled encouragingly. "Tell me what it looks like for us. Alice said we'll visit Paris one day, when I'm not a newborn anymore. But what else will we do?"

"Whatever _you _want to do, sweetheart. The rest of the family has had decades to follow their dreams…well, mostly Carlisle's and Esme's, I suppose. Now they just want to see you happy."

"And you?" she intuited. "I get the impression that you've just followed along in everyone else's wake, fitting in and not making demands."

My eyebrows rose, confirming her suspicion, but then I shrugged. "I didn't mind. I was able to attend medical school a couple of times and pursue my music. It wasn't as if there was anything in particular I wanted to accomplish. To be honest, before you came into my life, I was mostly just marking time and trying not to make everyone else miserable with my lonely brooding." I waggled my eyebrows to take the sting out of my words, and Bella giggled…a sound I would _never _tire of hearing.

"Well, there are a couple of things I would like to accomplish," she admitted, her smile replaced by a contemplative look. "And then I hope that you and I can come up with a better plan for the future than just marking time."

"Anything you want," I declared, and she rolled her eyes.

"No, Edward, anything _we _want…together. It can't just be about me, though I would like to finish high school, maybe online while I'm waiting out my newborn time, and then I'd like to go to college for a while…but not forever, repeatedly, ad nauseam. I mean, seriously, how can you guys stand going back to high school over and over again when there are so many amazing things you could be doing with your time and talents? You could compose and record your music. You couldn't perform publicly, and I guess you'd have to change your artistic name every so many decades, but you have a phenomenal gift, Edward, and I can't believe you haven't shared it with the world. Or you might prefer doing medical research. Can you imagine the discoveries you could make if you applied your amazing mind and insights to such a worthwhile endeavor?"

I blinked in surprise at the vehemence of her tone, her words putting a different light on the life I'd been living.

"What about Carlisle getting to practice medicine?" I blurted, not wanting to discount Bella's suggestion but returning to the refrain that had been the priority and driving force for the family's decisions for a very long time.

"What about it?" Bella shrugged. "I realize what he does is very important, but he's not the only one of you with something to offer. I'm sure if we all put our heads together we could come up with a dozen different ways to make life work and still give each of us the opportunity to explore new opportunities or pursue interests we already have. Alice should be _designing _clothes, not just predicting the fashions, and Rose loves restoring cars…though I think she'd be great working with children. Jasper needs to find a way to rewrite the history books that frustrate the daylights out of him, and Emmett…well, I'm not sure what Emmett would enjoy doing. Maybe a demolition company? He'd make a pretty incredible one-man wrecking crew as long as he wasn't caught on camera, though maybe he'd prefer to build things rather than wreck them?"

"What about you?" I interrupted her passionate and intriguing recitation. She'd clearly been giving this some thought, and I was curious to know what other fascinating insights I'd missed. "What would you like to do?"

"Hmmm…" she murmured, the sound sending a delicious vibration through the bed…and my equally fascinated body. Determined to give her the support she needed, I suppressed the urge to act on the sensations her nearness aroused and listened intently to her words, focusing my attention on the cute little crease that appeared between her brows whenever she was lost in concentration.

"I'd like to study literature and maybe creative writing," she eventually offered, her eyes skittering away and then shyly returning to meet my gaze.

"You think you might like to become a writer?" I asked, my tone infused with encouragement.

She nodded, a sly smile curving her lips. "I'm sure there's a market for a story about a family of supernatural beings who deny their natures to live honorably with their prey, even protecting and inexplicably falling in love with them."

"So it would be a romance?" I whispered, unable to resist the urge to draw our bodies closer and nuzzle my lips along the delectable line of her jaw.

"Oh, definitely, with love scenes and everything," she breathed, tilting her head to give me greater access to her neck and the highly erogenous zones we'd discovered together and that I was intent on exploiting. Pinpointing one such location partway between the enticing lobe of her ear and the sensual slope of her shoulder, I suckled gently, eliciting a very satisfying gasp of pleasure from Bella's soon-to-be-kissed-senseless cupid-bow lips.

"May I volunteer to assist you with the research?" I murmured against her sweet-scented skin.

"Oh, yes please," she moaned, delightedly, and I was more than happy to oblige.

_~OB~_

We spent the next few hours loving each other, tender and passionate in our desire to show one another the depths of our love and need and desperate to banish the fear that lurked in the back of our minds. We couldn't seem to get close enough, and even during the rests between our bouts of lovemaking, we stayed connected, our bodies touching, our legs and arms and hands entwined, mouths whispering words of love and comfort against one another's lips.

I thought about discussing the 'what ifs' of the situation: if one of us didn't make it. But I realized there was no point…or need. There was no possible future for me without Bella, and in the unlikely circumstance that she should perish and I survived, I would follow her into eternity at the first opportunity. While it broke my heart to think of Bella's young life cut short when she'd barely begun to live, I would not burden her by making pleading demands that she continue on without me if I were the one to perish. We were mated, and I finally understood what that meant in its entirety, including the terrifying consequences of permanent separation.

Bella and I would live or die together, which did not mean I was going to give in without the fight of my existence…or that I was adverse to gaining help by whatever means available. And so it was that all through that long night of loving communion with my beloved, I silently prayed—to a God that I'd spent decades denying but had finally come to believe in—that he would grant Bella and me the future we both fervently desired.

_~OB~_

**_The tweaks in this AU have certainly helped Edward to view things a little differently. Next up we have the confrontation with our not so welcome visitors…a challenging scene to write, so wish me luck. _**

**_Thanks for reading and reviewing. Your thoughts, opinions, suggestions and words of encouragement mean a lot to me. _**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_FanFic Recs_**

**_Serenity's Prayer by ladylibre – a wonderful Eclipse AU, beautifully written and quite captivating._**

**_The Parachutist and The Parachutist 2 by Camilla10 – a fascinating vamp AU with our favourite characters transported to WWII Italy and post war America. You'll love this vigilante Edward who is far from 'Edwardian' in this carnation._**


	51. Underestimated

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I've been ooing and ahing over the wonderful pics and vids coming out of Cannes of our loved-up duo. Such sweetness. The forehead kiss! Swoon... _**

**_Sorry for the delay in updating. I thought writing with a broken arm was difficult, but I've discovered something far more debilitating, I'm afraid…conjunctivitis! I'm feeling fine now, but it slowed me down heaps, that and trying to update two stories at once. Hmmm…whose silly fault is that? *sheepish grin* _**

**_Thanks for all the lovely reviews, tweets and recs, and welcome to all the new readers. I really appreciate you guys for hanging in with me for so long, especially in the face of update and review reply fails. _**

**_Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, and to my wonderful prereader, Content1, for their unfailing support. _**

**_Updated: Saturday, May 26th, 2012  
>Words: 3020<em>**

Chapter 51

Underestimated

EPOV

The large jet circled overhead, its occupants taking the opportunity to assess our assembled force of unlikely allies. With so many intensely keyed-up thought patterns to wade through, on our side and theirs, I expected it to take me a while to zero in on the Volturi leaders. But I'd never come across minds quite like theirs before…ancient, incredibly layered, and reeking with deception...and I was able to isolate their thoughts surprisingly quickly.

Aro, smugly complacent and mildly amused by the odd company his old friend, Carlisle, was now keeping, was clearly hiding something…or more accurately, a myriad of 'somethings'.

Marcus' thoughts were surprisingly pure, kind, even if a vampire who regularly fed on the lifeblood of humans could be described in such a way, but steeped in an ageless grief, no less potent for the passing of millennia. A shudder ran through me at the knowledge of what caused his immense suffering, and I let go of Bella's hand to draw her more closely against my side. She squeezed me tightly in return, compressing my ribs, a welcome reminder of her extraordinary newborn strength. Regardless of what happened, I doubted she need to utilize it during today's confrontation, her shield a far more effective means of defense. But I found it comforting to know that she would be the strongest vampire on the field today as well as supremely talented.

Caius' thoughts were far less contained, as his irrational fear of all things lupine sorely tested his control. The sight of so many enormous wolves aligned with a coven that he now decisively saw as his enemy and an unacceptable threat to the Volturi's domination was almost too much for him to bear, and I fleetingly wondered what would happen if he lost it and destroyed the plane before it was able to land.

"Damn, we should have brought a rocket launcher," Emmett muttered, and I suppressed a smirk, appreciating the sentiment. Seeing the entire Volturi guard engulfed in flames and tumbling from the sky would have been very satisfying, not that it would have wiped them out, but it might have slowed them down a little.

"We're not going to be the ones to initiate aggression," Carlisle reminded everyone, a few of the younger wolves growling unhappily with this part of the plan. Their reactions were an unnecessary reminder that most of them were teenagers and volatile in the extreme. If it wasn't for the strict control under which Sam held them, I would have fought more vehemently against their inclusion. As it was, I considered them our weakest link.

"Edward, can you hear anything?" Carlisle asked as the plane banked and then aligned itself with the runway at the far end of the field.

"Aro's thoughts are filled with plans for his soon-to-be-expanded guard," I murmured, knowing my supernatural companions would hear me quite clearly. "He's not contemplating anything other than victory, our numbers and the presence of the wolves not affecting his confidence in the outcome at all."

Carlisle shook his head sadly, both his and Eleazar's thoughts reflecting their dismay over their old friend's avaricious motives. While not agreeing with the conventional vampire lifestyle, they'd long held to the belief that the Volturi's role was essential and had trusted that the ancient one's who had ruled the vampire world for millenia acted with impartiality and a certain sense of justice. Alice's repeated visions and now my reading of Aro's thoughts, the ones he was willingly exposing, had dashed whatever hopes remained for the coming encounter to proceed fairly.

"What about Bella?" Jasper asked, interrupting all our brooding thoughts. "Surely Aro can't discount her ability so easily?"

I shrugged, as perplexed and concerned as my brother. Tanya was on board, which meant Aro knew everything that Tanya did about my wife's ability along with the rest of our family's talents, which was no doubt why he was so carefully masking the thoughts and intentions he did not want me to see. Tanya's thoughts, in contrast, were wide open and revealed that she seriously regretted her impulse to involve the Volturi in what was essentially a family disagreement. Her plans to use her gift to influence and manipulate Aro had backfired spectacularly, as he'd soon gained the upper hand. He was thrilled with what he considered her acquisition, planning to put her abilities to good use…in the Volturi's service. Warning her ahead of time the consequences of using her gift without his express permission, he'd happily released Jane to punish Tanya accordingly when she'd inevitably defied him. With Aro's blessing, Jane had taken to acting preemptively if Tanya so much as looked at anyone for too long, leaving our cousin and sister a jittering shell of her former self in a matter of just a few days.

I expected that Carmen, Eleazar and Kate would be devastated to see their sister in such a state, but I found it hard to feel overly sympathetic for Tanya's plight. Her situation served, however, as a pertinent reminder of why succumbing to Aro's desires and allowing ourselves to be coerced into joining his guard was not an option.

The jet landed and taxied so that the door faced us, but Aro and his companions took their time disembarking, a deliberate and entirely unnecessary ploy to increase the already unbearable tension. Bella trembled, and I leaned down to kiss the top of her head, the other couples all taking the opportunity to murmur last minute words of endearment. Alice buried her head against Jasper, and I reached to pat her on the shoulder. They'd spent the night separated from the rest of the family, far from the wolves, to enable Alice to search the future one last time for anything that might give us a clue. But the visions she saw were misty and uncertain with too many decisions yet to be made. The actual battle was a blank, except for the versions where the wolves were all destroyed along with most of our family and friends and Alice survived to view the tragic aftermath. Eventually Jasper, overwhelmed by Alice's frustration and grief, had called a halt, and they'd returned to us for comfort, despondent and none the wiser as to how we should proceed.

Then Bella had made a very helpful suggestion.

"Why don't you ask us to _decide_ to react in different ways and then search the future for the outcome? I know you can't see what's going to happen with the wolves present, but you could check to see which decisions lead to us all still being alive and together down the track…and which don't," she'd finished hesitantly. "At least we'd know what to avoid."

After nodding thoughtfully, Alice and Jasper had taken off back up the mountain, cell phone in hand, to put Bella's plan into action. Of course, Alice had already tried a similar approach, but with the rest of us actively participating in the decision making, the visions became clearer. What Alice couldn't take into account were any last minute decisions the Volturi might make to change the game plan, but at least we were able to discern which actions would undoubtedly lead to disaster and which at least gave us a chance of success…and of survival.

Not for the first time we explored the option of having Bella use her shield at full force—if she were able—against the Volturi to knock them flat and teach them that we were to be feared. But unless we were willing to follow through in destroying the leaders and inner circle of the guard when they were incapacitated, an action Carlisle refused to consider, any peace we achieved would be short lived. Alice's visions showed that Aro would take the insult very personally and most likely whittle away at our defenses and numbers until we acquiesced to his wishes. And so diplomacy, of sorts, remained our best option, with only a minimal show of force on our part to reveal what we were capable of and a lot of fast talking on Carlisle's and Eleazar's behalves to convince their old friend that such a blatant abuse of power as he intended would actually trigger a revolt in the vampire world and lead to his ultimate downfall.

My anxious musings were interrupted when Bella stepped away from my side, grasping my hand in hers.

"Tighten up, everyone," Jasper ordered quietly as our persecutors approached, their military V formation making a mockery of our straggly line. While vampire couples stayed together, the wolves moved to fill the gaps, Sam positioning himself between Jasper and I, so that either hand-to-hand, or hand-to-fur, we were all connected and safely protected by Bella's shield.

We'd expected that Aro would take a few moments to greet the friends he'd not seen in a long time and to at least present his demands before going on the offensive. But his smiling demeanor and words of welcome, as if _we _were the ones on foreign soil, were accompanied by an all out attack from Jane, Alec, and Chelsea seeking to torture, incapacitate and break the bonds between us. If it hadn't been for Bella's shield, we'd not even have heard Aro's sentimental declaration of joy at being reacquainted with such "dear and valued friends"…we'd have been screaming and writhing on the ground or blindly awaiting our capture or destruction.

The fog-like effect of Alec's talent was visible for all to see as it crossed the space between the opposing groups to thankfully be deflected by Bella's shield. But Jane's and Chelsea's attacks were invisible to all of us except Bella, who alerted us to the multi-pronged assault with her vivid descriptions of the supernatural weapons being directed our way.

"You weren't even going to give us the opportunity to respond to your greeting?" Carlisle asked, not bothering to hide the dismay Aro's actions caused him.

"Or grant us the opportunity to speak in our defense?" Eleazar added, equally affronted.

"Now, now…there's no need to get so upset," Aro laughed, bringing his company to a halt with fifty feet remaining between us, an easy leap for a vampire. "I was just checking to see if I'd been reliably informed regarding your newest member's defensive capabilities." He did not seem the least concerned about having the talents of the key offensive members of his guard effectively nullified, and my apprehension increased tenfold as I wondered what he was hiding behind his impossibly multilayered thoughts. With a clap of his hands, the assault stopped, and Bella sighed with relief.

"Are you okay?" I murmured, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"Just a lot of things to concentrate on at once," she whispered, sparing me a tender glance before turning to face our attackers, her expression fiercely determined.

Chelsea seemed unperturbed, the effect of her talent not something that could be detected in an instant, but Jane and Alec were furious at having been thwarted.

"Young Isabella, how wonderful…a true shield at last," Aro observed, clapping his hands gleefully. "Not only do you make am absolutely divine immortal, your power is every bit as all-encompassing as I had hoped. You will make an admirable addition to our guard."

I could not contain my growl, Aro's thoughts revealing he was not only possessive of my wife's admittedly unique talent but also of her company.

"Now, Edward…no need for jealousy." Aro had the audacity to rebuke me. _I _wasn't the one not-so-secretly lusting after another vampire's mate.

"I am almost as enamored of your own, equally unique talent," he continued, making it sound as if my reaction was rooted in a competitive reaction to his praise of Bella. Glaring, I briefly considered outing him to his wife, Sepulcia, who was standing in the back row with Caius' wife, both of them serenely complacent in their belief that they were utterly secure, surrounded as they were by Guard members. But I heeded Jasper's silent warning not to play into Aro's hands by reacting to his provocation.

"The uniqueness of their talents is irrelevant, Aro," Carlisle stated, his voice calm and unwavering. "Service in the Guard has always been voluntary, and none of my _family _desire to become members."

"Oh, pfft." Aro dismissed his words with a careless wave of his hands. "It is an extraordinary privilege to be invited to serve with us. Besides, I am about to make an offer they simply won't be able to refuse."

His words sent a ripple of reaction throughout our ranks.

"I'm not overly comfortable with this, Aro," Marcus intoned in his soft, sad drawl. "We've not previously resorted to blackmail. It is quite…beneath us."

"We've not had four insanely talented vampires congregated in one coven and aligned against us before, either," Caius spat. "Though I say they should _all_ be destroyed for consorting with our sworn enemy."

"We've been over this, brother," Aro replied in a sing-song tone. "The beasts before us are clearly shape-shifters, not true creatures of the moon, regardless of the reprehensible form they've chosen to inhabit. The fact that they've set themselves up as executioners of our brothers and sisters, however, is clearly warrant for their destruction."

"No!" Bella shouted, taking a small step forward and dragging the rest of us with her. "You cannot justify killing them just because they are able to protect themselves and their families from your kind."

"_My _kind, Isabella?" Aro mocked. "I fear the abnormal practices Carlisle has imposed upon your coven have led to you suffering an identity crisis. We are one and the _same,_ and I look forward to introducing you to your true nature."

"Enough!" I hissed. "We're not coming with you, and you cannot take us by force."

"He's right," Carlisle declared, launching into the impassioned plea he'd been practicing in his mind since the night before when we'd discerned there was a chance of success if we were able to convince Aro that this course of action would lead to the Volturi losing the respect of the vampire world. Eleazar joined in, his words as supremely eloquent as Carlisle's, but they had almost no effect. All I could detect from Aro was amused condescension; from Marcus, a vague, uneasy disinterest; and from Caius, a barely controlled impatience to begin tearing apart the wolves in our midst.

It didn't make sense. We'd already demonstrated that their talents couldn't penetrate Bella's shield, but there was not even a quiver of doubt in Aro's mind that we would comply with his demands.

"The vampire world respects power," Aro countered Carlisle's and Eleazar's arguments with a casual shrug. "And with Bella, Edward, Jasper and dear, intriguing Alice added to our ranks, our power will be unprecedented. Besides, no one other than those present here today will hear of these events…I guarantee it."

Sam's and the other wolves' thoughts told me they'd almost reached breaking point and were itching for a fight. Aro's smug posturing was getting on all our nerves, but nothing was going according to any plan or design we'd imagined, and the way forward was unclear.

"Hold the line," Jasper growled authoritatively in response to the low rumbles emanating from the chests of wolves and vampires alike.

In contrast to his calm exterior, Jasper's thoughts were a confused jumble. The phrase 'ace in the hole' emerged from his rapid replaying and interpreting of what he knew so far, and he turned to me, the briefest flicker of fear on his face.

_He's got something up his sleeve…something that he thinks negates all our talents and strategies. Can you see what it is?_

I scowled in concentration, instantly alerting Aro to my efforts.

"Ah…Edward. You'll have a lot to learn working for me," he mused in that same mocking tone that made me want to rub his face in the dirt. "As astonishing a talent as you possess, and immensely useful to me, I assure you, you can only hear what I'm willing to reveal. And Alice…how uniquely gifted you are, and yet your visions are fundamentally flawed if a last minute decision can disrupt them so easily. Ah, well…" he continued, smiling condescendingly. "We shall have all eternity to work on perfecting your technique, something I look forward to with great anticipation."

This time it was Jasper's turn to growl and his diminutive spouse's to hold him back.

The sound of a second jet approaching captured all of our attention, and in that moment, Marcus' thoughts revealed Aro's plan. Groaning, my knees buckled, and I would have fallen if Bella and Sam hadn't supported me.

"What? What is it?" multiple voices and thoughts demanded, but I couldn't bring myself to say straight away, momentarily overcome.

In that instant, I realized that Aro's mind, filled with the memories of a hundred thousand lifetimes, was not one Alice could track…not if he didn't want her to. It was no wonder we'd had so much difficulty predicting the outcome of today's confrontation when Aro, aware of this weakness in Alice's ability, had essentially made hundreds of different decisions and continued to do so, somehow masking his true intention amidst the chaos of his thoughts.

The jet, a Lear and much smaller than the one that had transported the Guard, wasted no time coming in to land. The others couldn't hear the terrifying sound of a human heartbeat above the noise of the engines, but the thoughts of the plane's inhabitants alerted me to just how complicated and terrifying our situation was about to become…and how much we'd underestimated our opponents.

Demetri, the Volturi's prized tracker, taxied the plane, bringing it to a halt alongside the larger jet. Calm but curious, he was eager to become acquainted with the largest, most talented coven the Volturi had ever encountered and bemused at the oddity of the task he'd been assigned and easily fulfilled.

Unable to face my beloved, I hung my head as I listened to Demetri's hostage's thoughts.

Renee, Bella's mother, was torn between bewilderment, a surprising degree of excitement, and the far more understandable terror that any sane human would feel at having been taken from her bed in the middle of the night by a vampire.

_~OB~_

**_Please forgive the evil cliffy. I've almost finished the next chapter and will have it posted as soon as possible, but I wanted to get something up this weekend. I hope you don't mind too much. _**

**_Reviews are very inspiring and spur me to keep writing when I'm bogged down in battle scenes and dreaming of happier times to come...I hope. ;)_**

**_xxx TLSue_**

**_Fic Recs_**

**_After delays of months and even years, two of my favorite vamp stories have finally completed, The Vampire in the Basement, by Michellephants, and Bonne Foi, by Amethyst Jackson. If you haven't read them already, they're both quite amazing._**


	52. Fury

**_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, but FanFictionNet is intent on spoiling our fun…apparently. I've been warned that lots of TwiFic stories are being taken off FFn at the moment. At present, I don't post my stories elsewhere (and can't imagine why anyone would target them), but if they suddenly disappear from FFn, try looking for them at TWCS (The Writer's Coffee Shop), as I'll transfer them over if necessary._**

**_I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter. It was pretty exciting for me to come up with something vaguely original as I'm no Jasper – or SM for that matter, LOL! – and complicated strategizing is not my forte. I've read so many wonderful battle scenes involving the Cullens, wolves and Volturi that it feels a little daunting to try and come up with my own interpretation…but here goes!_**

**_Thanks, as always, to my wonderful betas and prereader, Chloe Cougar, Squeaky Zorro, and Content 1. _**

**_Updated: Sunday, June 3rd 2012  
>Words: 5713<em>**

Chapter 52

Fury

BPOV

"Edward, what's wrong?" I cried as he sagged against me, fear gripping my chest like a vice. As far as I could tell, none of the Volturi's attacks were penetrating the shield, but something was affecting Edward.

Aro's maniacal laughter filled the air, and a furious, bitter growl erupted from Edward's lips. His muscles tensed beneath my hands, and in an instant, Jasper and I went from supporting to restraining him.

"Edward, stop!" I pleaded, when he continued to struggle against our hold. "You'll break the connections between us. Please…tell me what's going on."

Freezing in place, his eyes squeezed tightly shut for a moment before he turned to me, his face a mask of agony. "Bella…I'm so sorry," he rasped hoarsely. "Aro watched the news telecasts of your memorial service, and he saw her grieving for you. We should have planned for this, but I never thought he'd stoop so low."

I didn't know what he was talking about, but before I could ask him to explain, Aro interjected.

"A leader does whatever is necessary to achieve his aims and benefit the greater good, young Edward." Aro smirked, and I turned to glare at him. The guy was a total control freak, and his condescending attitude was really getting on my nerves. But before I could retort, the unmistakable sound of a human heartbeat galvanized my attention. My eyes snapped to the source of the sound, and I saw a vampire approaching from the direction of the smaller plane, his long, flowing coat the darker gray that denoted his superior position in the guard. The breeze blew his cowl back from his face, and I recognized him from Carlisle's sketches…Demetri, the tracker.

Time slowed as I caught sight of the pajama-clad woman he carried in his arms, her heart beating frantically. Her hair was shorter than mine but almost identical in color, her wide, brown eyes showing a mixture of confusion and terror.

"Mom?" I breathed, disbelieving.

She couldn't have heard my whisper, but her head turned toward me, her eyes widening in shock as her sweet, human scent, was carried to me on the breeze.

"Bella?" She sounded as bewildered as I was.

"Mom!" I screamed as Edward threw his arms around me, tackling me to the ground when I leaped forward.

Renee was here…and she was Aro's prisoner.

Overwhelmed with fear and anger, I felt the power surge through me, my shield expanding rapidly.

"No!" Edward shouted. "You mustn't lost control…you'll hurt your mother."

His words struck me like an icy blast, and I scrambled to regain control of the energy pulsing through me. It was like trying to rein in a bolting horse, and in my panic I overcompensated, the shield deflating like a burst balloon. I tried to reactivate it, but before I got the chance Jane launched a vicious attack. Her focus moved from target to target, dropping vampire and wolf alike in short bursts of excruciating agony—breaking the tenuous connections between us. Amidst the screams and howls, I heard Renee calling my name.

"Mom," I sobbed, reaching for her again and struggling against Edward's continued hold.

"Bella, please," he pleaded. "Don't fight me…you're too strong."

"You need to get the shield back up before it's too late," Jasper ordered between gritted teeth as he recovered from one of Jane's vicious blasts. "We can't help your mother like this. We'll be destroy…"

His words were cut off, and both he and Edward froze. The screams of agony stopped, and so did my struggles as I looked frantically around to see my friends and family lying prone or standing tensely posed, their arms reaching blindly in front of them, expressions of panic on their faces. Some of the wolf pack had phased back into human form in response to Jane's torture, and they lay huddled and naked on the ground while those still in wolf form hunched and growled defensively.

"Edward?" I cried, looking into his blankly staring eyes. "Jasper?"

Neither of them responded, and I scrambled to my feet, leaving them kneeling on the ground, their hands held tentatively in front of them. The eerie grey fog that wafted around us signified Alec's sinister talent at work, and I looked up to see the Guard slowly approaching just behind it. I expected them to rush at us, but they took their time, and I guessed they'd have to wait until the fog dissipated to attack or they'd be incapacitated also, which didn't give me very long to act.

At least my personal shield still seemed to be working as the fog didn't affect me, nor did the evil-looking barbs Jane continue to hurl my way. Chelsea's spider-like tendrils floated past, winding their way amongst us, though they couldn't get a grip on me like they did the others.

I'd noticed them before, the web-like strands that wound between the various members of the Volturi, compelling their loyalty and keeping them from rebelling against their leaders. Some of the guard didn't need the compulsion, Jane, Alec and the enormous warrior, Felix, in particular, leading me to believe that they _enjoyed_ their roles and served Aro freely. But most of the others were cloaked in a fine but tangled web, including Marcus and Demetri, Chelsea having aimed her talent the tracker's way as soon as he'd approached from the plane. My mind scrambled to make sense of the difference, desperately trying to find a way to exploit it.

"The wolves are mine," Caius called, clearly having no qualms about destroying them when they were lying defenseless and unable to fight back.

"Just save one or two for me to interrogate," Aro responded dryly. "They might make amusing pets, if one can get past the smell, or possibly guard dogs if their loyalty can be assured. I imagine that will depend on their susceptibility to Chelsea's gift." He smiled at the female vampire who stared back at him with adoring eyes, and I shuddered, imagining my friends and family blindly following this sicko because they'd been coerced into submitting to him…though Eleazar assured us that shouldn't be an issue, as Chelsea's power didn't work as effectively against mated pairs,

He and Carmen had become disenchanted with life in the guard soon after they'd become a pair and had requested permission to strike out on their own, relieved to be granted permission. Members of the guard were not normally allowed to pursue such intense relationships, Eleazar's mating with Carmen an aberration, and mated pairs were never actively recruited…until now.

I'd wondered how Aro planned on controlling Jasper, Alice, Edward, and me if he could not manipulate our loyalty. But that was before he'd taken my mother hostage. If I couldn't get her away from him, and if he could separate us from the rest of our family, he wouldn't need Chelsea's ability to make us do his bidding…our obedience would be assured.

Reaching these conclusions in a fraction of a second, my focus zeroed in on getting the shield back up before the guard attacked. But my confidence wasn't high, as I'd never managed to protect anyone that I wasn't touching or connected to before.

I considered grabbing Edward's and Jasper's hands and setting a chain reaction in motion. As they were freed from the effect of Alec's gift, they could catch hold of the next one in line, and so on, but there wasn't enough time. I needed to encompass everyone in the shield's protection in one attempt, and I needed to do it immediately.

An image sprang to my mind from the day Edward had first told me he loved me. I'd paced the floor while trying to come to terms with my conflicted feelings, my shield filling Edward's room like a pearl bubble with him sitting in the middle of it unaffected. We hadn't been connected at all, which meant I'd done it before and could therefore do it again!

The knowledge of how I'd managed to encircle Edward in the shield without touching him crystallized in my thoughts, and I wasted no time hurling the shield out like a dome, large enough to cover the ones I wanted to protect and irrespective of the fact that we weren't touching. It worked, and I almost sobbed with relief as, with groans and cries, my friends and family came back to awareness.

Edward sprang to his feet, crying my name as he threw his arms around me from behind, circling my waist. As much as I was comforted by his touch, I kept my eyes on the hate-filled gazes of our attackers, with no time to waste in celebrating.

Demetri still had my mother.

Filled with fury, I felt the power building within me, but I didn't dare use my shield as a weapon the way I had against the wolves the day they attacked Edward in the meadow…not with Renee in the firing line. The wolves had almost died from the force of the blast, so there was no way a frail human could survive.

My mind whirled as I considered my options. The talented members of the guard all had a way of using their abilities as a weapon, sending darts and fog and strands to debilitate their victims. Even Tanya could send her insidious thoughts into other's. Being a shield was all very well, but I needed to find a way to convert the energy from my shield into a manageable form, one I could use as a weapon against specific targets, so I could do some debilitating of my own.

"Bella?" Edward murmured, and I raised a hand to stop him from interrupting my train of thought, my mind replaying what I'd seen of the way the others harnessed and controlled their talents. With another jolt of understanding, I grasped what I needed to do, surprising Edward by shrugging out of his embrace.

"It's okay," I murmured, casting him a reassuring smile. "Just stand back a little and be ready to go rescue Renee."

He nodded, his faith in me evident in his steady gaze.

Turning back to face the nightmare, I released just enough energy to maintain the shield, the power drawing back inside me…building…pulsing…growing…until it began to flow along my arms and out to my fingertips, gathering like balls of electricity in the palms of my hands.

"It is time for you to surrender, Bella," Aro ordered confidently, oblivious to the hell I was hoping to rain down on him. His expression bordered on ecstatic, as he no doubt imagined using my talent to fuel his insatiable hunger for power and control.

I'd listened to Carlisle's defense of the Volturi's existence, his reasoning for why they were a necessary evil and his justification of their methods, but I wasn't buying it any longer.

"Not going to happen, Aro," I shouted, making sure my voice carried across the field.

"Your mother means so little to you?" he taunted.

Growls and hisses erupted around me, but other than the sensation of seemingly limitless power surging through my body, I felt surprisingly calm.

"I love my mother very much," I declared, briefly glancing her way before turning my attention back to Aro. "And if she dies or is hurt in any way, you _all _die…every…last…one of you," I warned, aiming my last words at Demetri who raised his eyebrows at my audacity. "The same goes for those who attack my family and friends," I added, scanning the guard.

"Now, now, Bella," Aro admonished, his tone mocking and indulgent as he began another of his pontificating speeches.

I'd had enough of listening to him for one lifetime, and I dropped my shield, threw my hands out, and sent bolts of pure power hurtling through the air at supersonic speed.

I'd not been the least bit coordinated as a human. Sports had never been my thing—watching them or playing them—and I'd never been very successful at throwing a ball any distance or even in the direction I'd wanted. But my vampire aim was deadly accurate, and Jane, Alec, and Chelsea were thrown to the ground as individual bolts of my own unique brand of lightning struck them simultaneously. They didn't get up again but lay twitching on the ground, well and truly incapacitated.

"Yes!" Emmett bellowed, surging forward, but before he could attack, I shouted some instructions.

"Don't kill Marcus, Demetri, Renata or the ones in lighter grey if they surrender!" I ordered, and to my relief, Jasper repeated the command as he bolted forward, vampires and wolves arrayed behind him.

"Edward, now!" I shouted, sending more bolts ahead of our attacking force and scattering the guard. Despite my suspicions about her loyalty, I'd been warned that Renata had to be incapacitated or any attack against Aro would be diverted, so I took her down with the lightest strike I could manage. Then I turned my attention to Aro, who was attempting to sneak away amidst the chaos.

"Oh, no, you don't, you cowardly creep," I hissed and sent a bolt imbued with all the anger and fury inside of me straight for the back of his head. Not even bothering to watch him fall, I spun to see Edward virtually fly past Demetri. The tracker was standing stunned and slack-jawed, staring at the unprecedented sight of the Volturi guard in complete and utter disarray. One minute Renee was in his arms, observing the attack with bewilderment—or what her eyes were able to perceive of it—and the next she was in Edward's arms and being spirited away from the battle.

Everything inside me cried out to follow him and be reunited with my mom, but I remained on alert, watching the battle and ready to help if required…not that our side seemed to need any help now that they had a more even playing field.

Caius and the vampires who refused to surrender soon found themselves on the receiving end of an attack spearheaded by a very angry pack of super-sized, super-strength wolves…the same wolves that Caius had been eager to destroy, but only when they were incapacitated and unable to fight back. It was a different story now. The Volturi weren't used to having to defend themselves, and one by one, the wolves took them down.

Caius screamed in shock and outrage, his curses against the wolves that were taking great delight in tearing him apart filling the air.

Nobody paid him any mind.

Carlisle took up a position guarding Aro's prone form, while the rest of the family wasted no time in dispatching Jane, Alec, and Chelsea, dismembering and decapitating their bodies before putting the pieces to the torch in a makeshift bonfire that grew larger as the wolves added their victims.

The robed figures that had heeded my warning and hadn't attacked were soon surrounded, cowed into submission by an unexpectedly superior force. Quickly dropping to their knees, they raised their arms in the universal sign of surrender…all except for Marcus, Demetri and the two colorfully clothed wives who continued to stand and stare around them, dazed and disbelieving.

Felix was the only attacking vampire the wolves couldn't subdue, and I winced when he tossed Jared and Paul aside, sending them crashing to the ground though fortunately, without inflicting any permanent damage. Deciding I'd better bring him down before he did any serious harm, I raised my hands to strike.

"No, Bella! Leave him to me," Emmett bellowed, a split second before hurtling headlong at Felix and felling him like a huge tree. The earth shook, and space was cleared for a battle of Goliaths.

The two were well-matched, reminding me of a cartoon I'd once seen where Thor and the Hulk went head-to-head, but I wasn't taking any risks. I had no intention of seeing anyone that I cared about die this day, and I stood ready to intervene if necessary. Rose came to stand by my side, and we shared a look of understanding, her eyes filled with gratitude. Emmett had always enjoyed play fighting with his brothers, but this was different.

While the fight raged before us, a crazy mix of supernatural speed and impossible strength, Esme and Alice went to guard Renee, releasing Edward to return to my side. He reached for me then hesitated, aware that I was holding the power in check, my hands stretched above me and ready to strike if it looked like Felix was getting the upper hand.

"Time to wrap it up, Emm," Edward called over the sound of blows that boomed like thunder, echoing around the vast clearing.

"Oh, all right," Emmett grumbled, quickly capturing his opponent in a head lock and revealing that he'd just been toying with him. "Surrender or die, buddy," Emmett offered, and Felix bucked in his arms.

"He's loyal to Aro and won't ever surrender or see reason," Edward answered for the spitting, struggling giant, and Emmett wasted no time in removing Felix's head and throwing it toward the raging pyre.

"Pity," Emmett muttered, as he quickly dismembered the body, adding the assortment of limbs and body parts to the inferno.

It was a gruesome sight, but I watched it dispassionately, wondering why I wasn't more affected…or affected at all. The fight was over and we'd won, with only a couple of minor injuries amongst the wolves. But all I could do was stand and stare at the hypnotizing purplish flames as the power that coursed through me slowly dissipated, leaving me feeling oddly drained.

"Bella!" Edward lunged for me as my body suddenly sagged, his arms encircling me and preventing me from hitting the ground. "What is it? What can I do?" he demanded, and I turned to burrow my face against his chest, fighting the sudden urge to weep.

Another hand touched my shoulder, and I welcomed Jasper's calming influence helping me regain control.

"Don't worry, Edward, it's just reaction…and relief," Jasper explained, and I nodded, murmuring incoherently in agreement.

"We're all feeling it," he continued. "But there's still much to be done and some important decisions to make."

Knowing he was right, I took a deep breath, straightened up, and thanked Jasper for his help. Then I threw my arms around Edward, pressing my lips against his in a too brief but heartfelt kiss. His body, tall, lean and strong, wrapped around me, and I moaned at the unceasing wonder of our embrace and the relief I felt that we were both alive to feel it.

Stifling a sob, I pulled back and turned to face our captivated audience.

The surviving members of the Volturi were eyeing me with awe and undisputed fear.

The wolves paced restlessly, clearly uneasy that we'd left any alive, and my family and friends were looking to me for answers. My eyes, however, were only interested in finding one frail, frightened human.

"Mom," I whispered, seeing her standing between Esme and Alice, cloaked in one of the blankets we'd brought in case any of the wolves were injured and had to phase back to human form.

"Bella?" she called, her voice tentative and shaky.

"I'll be there in just a minute, Mom," I called, wanting to go to her, but knowing there was vital information that the others needed…information that I had.

In that moment, I didn't want to be the one with the crazy power or the ability to see other's gifts. I wasn't a warrior or a soldier or a leader…I was a newborn, newlywed, not-quite-eighteen-year-old girl who just wanted to go be with her mom.

If there was one thing I'd learned in the previous weeks, it was that we didn't always get what we wanted. But as I met Edward's worried, loving gaze and then looked around at my waiting friends and family, all alive and essentially unharmed, I realized that...sometimes we did.

_~OB~_

EPOV

Carlisle approached, his expression sober but reassuring as he addressed Bella. "We don't want to keep you from your mother for any longer than is necessary, but we're assuming there is a reason you asked us to show clemency to certain individuals."

I was as eager to hear the answer as he was but frustrated that after all she'd done to save us, and the obvious toll it had taken on my sweet girl, we were asking _more _of her.

_Easy, Edward,_ Jasper cautioned. _She's stronger than she looks, _he added with a mental snicker,_ and the sooner we know what she saw or has planned, the sooner you two can go to Renee._

I nodded and then focused my attention on Bella's words.

"Chelsea's gift was the real power behind Aro's throne." Bella began, confirming what I had begun to suspect. "She tied the others to him, binding them to Aro so that they wouldn't question or rebel. Jane, Alec, and Felix served of their own free will, as did some of the lower members of the guard. They're the ones who wouldn't surrender, but the others…" she shrugged, and turned to face Marcus, Demetri, a still-stunned but conscious Renata and the rest of the guard who were struggling to come to terms with the completely unexpected turn of events.

"Chelsea's gift didn't have much of a residual effect," I added, taking up the explanation while stroking Bella's arm with soothing caresses as she leaned into my side. "So Aro made sure he only allowed those whose loyalty he was confident of—one way or another—to be absent from Volterra for any length of time. He made sure Demetri's allegiance was guaranteed by repeated exposure to Chelsea's gift when he was not away tracking…and by threatening to harm Heidi, the female he has feelings for." I gestured to a statuesque vampire who was staring at Demetri with undisguised longing. Demetri's eyes shot to mine, fear and hope revealed in his expression and thoughts.

"As long as you don't try to attack any of us or leave until matters are resolved, you can go to her," Carlisle offered, and Demetri closed the distance between himself and the female vampire in a flash, gathering her into his arms. As the cloud of Chelsea's control cleared from her victims' minds, two more couples edged towards one another.

Sam prowled up to stand beside Bella and me, his thoughts matching his angry growls. Romantic declarations between enemy vampires were not exactly high on his priority list at present, but before I could say anything to placate him, Marcus spoke up, his voice far more animated than previously.

"Are you saying that my brother used that woman to control me, also?" he demanded. "How long has this been going on? How long have I been kept from following my mate into oblivion by this perfidy?"

"For a very long time, I'm guessing," Carlisle answered, his tone sympathetic. "Chelsea was present in Volterra when I first arrived, and I suspect her ability is the reason it took me so long to leave even though I was terribly unhappy, surrounded by the continual loss of human life."

"Chelsea." Marcus spat the name like a curse. "She was with Aro from the start, from before…" He couldn't finish the sentence, his mind filled with grief over his lost mate and fury at the realization that he'd been controlled and manipulated by his brother for millenia.

"Aro must pay," Marcus hissed, pacing to where his brother's body still lay, completely immobile on the grass and watched over by Eleazar. Carmen and Kate knelt nearby, their arms wrapped protectively around Tanya who continued to tremble and murmur incoherently. Her thoughts were scattered and terrified, the Volturi's defeat barely registering to her. But it was the complete absence of thoughts from the prone Volturi leader that held my attention. I wasn't surprised when Carlisle had prevented the others from destroying Aro's incapacitated form, assuming he would want to plead for clemency for his old friend or argue that the Volturi couldn't function without their leader. But I was surprised that Aro had still not regained consciousness…until I saw through Marcus' eyes the damage that Bella had inflicted.

Kneeling to draw back the cowl that partially covered Aro's head, it was immediately apparent that the Volturi…if they were to continue to exist…would need a new leader. The bolt of energy that Bella had directed at the fleeing dictator's head had almost completely severed it, damage that could normally be repaired, not that I could imagine Aro adjusting well to having _all_ his memories wiped. But that wasn't an option. The intense heat of the lightning-like strike had reduced the back part of his skull and brain to ash.

Aro was not coming back.

Sulpicia, Aro's widowed mate, slowly approached, her thoughts in turmoil.

"He's really dead?" she whispered, and I felt Bella flinch beside me, her eyes widening in shock.

"What do you mean, dead?" she cried. "I didn't mean to kill him…I just didn't want him to escape."

"It's all right, Bella," I wasn't the only one to assure her. "You did what you had to do to save us all, and you had no way of knowing how much force to use."

"But I threw everything I had at him," she whispered, aghast. "I was so angry with him for threatening my mom."

"Don't worry," Jasper placated. "You'll learn to better gauge your strength and control your gift with practice."

"I don't want to practice or to have to use it ever again!"

Bella's outburst was met by stunned surprise from our captives whose thoughts mirrored Marcus' words.

"But you are the most powerful vampire in existence, my lady." He bowed respectfully, his actions mimicked by those who'd come to stand around him and observe the death of their tyrannical leader. "Who better to take command of the Volturi and maintain rule of the vampire world…especially with your lupine allies at your side?"

Sam and the other wolves growled at this pronouncement, having no desire to leave their home and take on the policing of their enemy, unless that meant the total eradication of the vampire race…at least, those ones who refused to convert to drinking animal blood.

Bella shook her head in dismay before turning to hide her face against my chest, whimpering slightly. I wanted to reassure her that no one expected her to do anything of the sort, least of all me, and I was relieved when Carlisle took up her defense.

"Bella is only a very young woman and a newborn vampire, not yet two months old in this life," he stated, his words triggering a round of surprised murmurs and denials. "If the Volturi is to continue in some form to curb the excesses of our kind and protect us all from discovery, it will need a strong and experienced leader or leadership team, one _not _dependent on manipulation and deceit."

"I want nothing to do with it," Marcus hissed at Carlisle's pointed look. "It is time for the next generation to step up, you and your coven_,_ Carlisle, being the obvious choice."

I wasn't the only one to groan at his suggestion,

"My family and I have no desire to rule, wanting nothing more than to live a peaceful existence," Carlisle refuted. "Though I cannot deny that we bear some responsibility for the changes that today's events have precipitated…however unwittingly."

His words were met with grumbling from our side, though my concern was for Bella, who ducked her head at his words. Stroking her arm soothingly, I speared Carlisle with a pointed look, but before he could clarify his meaning, Eleazar and Carmen stepped forward after sharing a meaningful glance with Kate who remained protectively curled around Tanya.

"We will take responsibility for our sister's involvement in this debacle," Eleazar acknowledged. "Whilst also having no desire for leadership, we are willing to be of service if the need should arise."

"If the situation is handled right, the _need _for the type of service the Volturi provides shouldn't arise for a long, long time," Jasper added, and I smirked at his train of thought, relieved to have his military and tactical experience on _our _side.

"How so?" Demetri stepped forward, his hand linked with Heidi's and his curious thoughts echoed by all those present.

"Let the word of today's events spread and do the work for us," Jasper replied, his expression sardonic. "No vampire in their right mind will want to bring such destruction down on their heads. Other than the occasional act of irrational rebellion or suicidal intent, I don't see there being any major concern for decades…possibly longer. I'm not suggesting the Volturi be disbanded altogether, as who knows what could fill the void, but a modified leadership team," he gestured towards Demetri, Heidi and the guard members who'd come to ally themselves behind the couple, "should be able to manage most issues that arise…especially if it is made known that they can call on the rest of us for assistance if the situation warrants."

"There is truth and insight in your words," Marcus agreed. "The occasions the Volturi have had to act as enforcer or punisher are rare indeed, our reputation sufficient to discourage all but the most recalcitrant offender. The majority of Aro's forays were to investigate and acquire those talented vampires that piqued his interest…and greed for more power."

A murmuring of discontent arose from the members of the guard, many having served the Volturi faithfully for far longer than most of us had been alive. To learn that they'd been robbed of their freedom to choose was a bitter pill to swallow, let alone discovering that the Volturi's very purpose had been subverted by Aro's megalomania. But residual feelings of loyalty and pride in their positions were still evident in their thoughts, with many believing they had something to offer the new order. Naturally, some wanted nothing more than to run as fast and far away as they could in the hopes of never being found again, in particular those that had been kept from their mates…not that I could blame them.

"Are you sure you won't stay, Marcus, and assist us with the transition to the new order?" Demetri asked, his intention to take an integral role in the new leadership a relief to me. I'd not have blamed the vampire if he'd taken his mate and disappeared after what they'd been denied for so long.

Marcus' denial hovered on his lips, but the interest he felt in the proceedings and the future planning required bemused him. Aro had kept his brother in a virtual stupor for so long, that despite his ever-present grief, Marcus was intrigued by the sensation of awareness and the resurfacing of his formidable intellect.

Surprising us all, Sulpicia and Athenadora, Aro's and Caius' widows, both stepped forward.

"Please consider it, brother," Sulpicia implored. "We've all lost our mates, a tragedy to be sure, but it is apparent that we were all also held captive by thoughts and compulsions not of our own. I, for one, would like to rediscover the nature of my _own _mind and experience the freedom to think and feel whatever I wish, as well as believing that I have something of my own to offer this new leadership team. If you, if _any _of us find that the role is not to our liking, we can make the choice to leave or even end our existence…" her words trailed away, her grief already tempered by the overwhelming relief she felt to be finally freed from her husband's tyrannical rule.

Maybe it was because their lifestyle was so different from ours, the killing and surrender to bloodlust suppressing their ability to empathize and experience the gentler emotions to the full. But the relationship the two females had experienced with their mates couldn't have been more different from the experiences of my family. I suspected the loss of their mates wouldn't affect them as deeply as we would experience in light of the freedom from mind-control and abuse that would accompany it.

Those that would comprise this new leadership team, with input from both our family and the Denali's, were soon engaged in planning for the future. Not wanting to subject Bella to a discussion that I predicted could continue for some time, I drew away, hesitating only when Sam approached my side. He was ready to leave, informing me that he had better things to do with his time than stand around and listen to a bunch of vampires debate how to police their murdering kind.

_If we can't kill them all, we're not really interested,_ Sam admitted, his thoughts gruff. _Just make sure they know not to come anywhere near our territory and to leave us the hell alone._

I relayed his wishes to Jasper, who after a brief discussion with Demetri assured Sam that strict guidelines would be imposed to protect the wolves and tribe. It was also decided that those guard members who wanted to leave would first return to Volterra, on the same plane that had brought them to us, to collect their personal possessions and receive remuneration for their years of service. They knew not to come anywhere near us and after the fear Bella's talent had instilled in their thoughts, I doubted a single one would venture to this hemisphere again.

Sam nodded his acceptance of these conditions, and then he and the other wolves backed away before disappearing into the trees, intent on returning to Forks as quickly as possible.

My input was requested when the discussion continued, but I had other priorities, and with a nod towards Carlisle and Jasper, I left them to it and guided Bella across the field to where her mother waited.

"Are you going to be all right?" I murmured quietly into Bella's ear, sensing the tension in her body.

She nodded jerkily, but her voice when she spoke was strained. "I feel like a hypocrite, as I'm not sorry that Jane and the others are dead at all after what they did, but I didn't mean to kill Aro. It's like I murdered him…personally."

My heart ached at the uncertainty in her tone, and drawing her to a halt, I turned her to face me.

"You did what was needed to save all our lives, Bella, and I couldn't be more prouder of you than I am at this moment…or feel more relieved." Reaching down, I kissed her tenderly before drawing back with a sigh and a quick glance in Renee's direction. Bella's mother was remarkably composed considering all she'd just witnessed, but there was no denying her curiosity.

"We'll talk about it again, as much as you want…as much as you _need_," I promised, turning back to Bella and gently cupping her cheek. "But for now, I think it's time you introduced me to my mother-in-law."

_~OB~_

**_I'd love to hear what you thought of Bella's extraordinary abilities and the fact half the Volturi were wiped out…well, the particularly nasty ones. I know some writers have a soft spot for Aro and the Volturi, but I thought SM wimped out a little letting them all walk at the end of BD. Seriously…that Jane had it coming! _**

**_Thanks so much to those of you still taking the time to review. My updating schedule has slowed a little due to RL stresses (my laptop died this week and I lost everything…sigh), but I promise to keep writing, and I greatly appreciate your encouragement, opinions and suggestions. _**

**_xxx TLSue_**


	53. Reunion

_**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. Yay for teaser trailers! I can't wait for Breaking Dawn Part 2!**_

_**Sorry for the delay and thank you so much for all the continued support, reviews and recs you guys continue to give Once Bitten. I'm so glad you enjoyed Bella's somewhat over-the-top way of dealing with the Volturi, as I have to admit it was fun allowing her to 'let fly'.**_

_**Thanks to my lovely betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, for all their hard work in polishing and helping to Americanize my writing. I can't believe how many phrases are actually native to Australia and sometimes Great Britain but not used in the US. **_

_**Thanks also to my lovely prereader, Content1, for her ongoing support. Her amazing AH story, Sins Of My Past, still rocks my week if you haven't checked it out…not to mention my squeals of delight when Full Moon Rising updates. :D**_

_**Updated: Wednesday, June 20th, 2012  
>Words: 4340 <strong>_

Chapter 53

Reunion

BPOV

"Mom," I cried, my voice catching with emotion as we approached where Renee was standing, wrapped in a blanket and watched over by both Esme and Alice.

Edward drew me to a halt while we were still quite a few yards away, and I squeezed his hand for reassurance.

Renee stood staring, her expression still disbelieving and tears running down her cheeks. When she moved to close the distance between us, Esme restrained her with a hand to her arm.

"Just give her a moment," Alice explained to her. "She needs to acclimatize to your scent."

"Oh…right." Renee looked back to me uncertainly. I wasn't sure what Alice and Esme had told her, but she clearly realized that something out of the ordinary was going on…a whole lot of "somethings" considering what she'd just witnessed. How much she understood was another matter.

She'd survived being abducted from her home in the middle of the night by a vampire, flown across the country, and then witnessing a battle between vampires and wolves with supernatural weapons, speed and abilities, and the last thing I wanted was for her to be hurt now due to my newborn thirst and erratic control. So, testing myself, I carefully breathed in her scent, relieved when my throat barely even flared. I wasn't sure if it was because I was still sated from the deer I'd drunk just before the confrontation with the Volturi, the fact that Renee's aroma reminded me so strongly of the remnants of my own human scent, or the simple fact that she was my mother and I was so incredibly grateful for this chance for us to be reunited that I refused to let anything stand in our way. Whatever the reason, my vampire nature seemed well and truly contained, my only desire to keep her safe.

"I'm okay, actually." I looked up to Edward who'd wrapped an arm protectively around my waist. He smiled reassuringly, and I quietly thanked God that Renee's scent wasn't bothering me. Then, with a gasp, I remembered that I wasn't the only vampire that posed a risk to humans.

"She smells a lot like I used to!" I cried. "Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm fine," Edward assured me soberly. "Her scent's similar to your human one, but it's not a problem. She's not my singer."

Sighing with relief, I turned back to where Renee was waiting before walking closer until I stood a mere arm's length in front of her. She studied me for a moment, her brow furrowing into a frown, and I couldn't help but notice how tired and frail she looked. Her eyes were red from crying, and tears stained her cheeks though she hastily brushed them away.

"You look _different, _your eyes, your voice, your..." She gestured vaguely, bewilderment written on her face. "But it really is you, Bella, isn't it?" Her tone was cautious but hopeful, and I nodded, my own throat feeling too tight to form words.

"Can I…can I hug you?" she asked, glancing warily at Esme and Alice. "They said my presence might be _painful_ for you...that it might be difficult for you to be near me."

"It's okay, Mom," I whispered through trembling lips and opened my arms wide. Tentatively, she stepped into my embrace and hugged me close, her body warm and soft in my arms though she was shaking, no doubt from cold, reaction, or a perfectly understandable combination of the two. She wasn't exactly dressed for the location, having been plucked from her bed in Phoenix dressed only in her short pjs. I wanted to help her get warm and comfortable, not to mention safely away from this killing field still crowded with dangerous predators—not that I was expecting any problems after my recent display—but all I could think was how much I just needed to hug my mom. So I allowed myself this moment, carefully closed my arms around her, and ever so gently patted her on the back.

A whimper escaped my throat when I reluctantly let go and took a step away from her, but I wasn't about to press my luck. Edward had released his hold on my waist but stayed close, and he immediately grasped my hand with his, whether to reassure me, hold me back if I did lose control, or for his own comfort, I wasn't sure.

"I'm okay," I told him before addressing Esme and Alice. I could tell they were eager to be reunited with their husbands and undoubtedly have their say in the discussion about what form the _revamped _Volturi should take.

"Thanks for watching out for my mom, but we'll be fine now," I offered, and with a quick smile for Renee, they both disappeared—quite literally from her point of view. She gasped and looked around to see where they'd gone, and I pointed out their arrival at their partners' sides a hundred yards away. For a moment, she just stared, unblinking, before turning back to face Edward and me, her eyes were wide and her face pale beneath her tan. Taking a deep breath, she reached for me again, and I let her grasp my hand, careful not to squeeze in return.

"You're so cold…and hard…but you are real, aren't you?" She sounded worried. "I mean, I don't _think_ I'm dreaming or having a nightmare, but this is all so…so…"

"I know, Mom, really I do," I offered comfortingly. "But I promise this is real and I'm alive. I know you must have a thousand questions, but before we get to that, let's get you warm…and away from here." I motioned with my head back toward the macabre scene of the battle's aftermath where columns of purple smoke rose skyward. Aro had been granted his own pyre, but I really didn't want to think about that just now.

"My feet are kind of cold," Renee admitted with a wan smile. "But before we go anywhere, do you think you could introduce me to your..._boyfriend_?"

Inwardly groaning at the thought of explaining just how much more than a mere boyfriend Edward was to me, I glanced up to smile sheepishly at my decidedly anxious-looking husband. Not that I needed to worry. Transforming his handsome features into one of his utterly mesmerizing smiles, Edward offered a hand to my mother before bowing and introducing himself, thankfully leaving out any mention that we were married.

"Mrs Dwyer? My name is Edward Cullen, and it is a pleasure to meet you," he murmured in that soft, smooth, musical way of his which was guaranteed to set female hearts aflutter whether the recipient of his charm was nine or ninety…and Renee was no exception. She blinked repeatedly, her mouth opening and closing for a moment before she snapped it shut and shot me a wry look.

"Well, it's not hard to see why you fell for this one," she murmured, and it was Edward's turn to look a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, you have no idea." I gestured for her to walk with us over to where we'd left the rest of the blankets and could hopefully find a secluded spot to sit and talk in relative privacy.

Once we were settled in a little glen a short distance into the forest, and Renee was wrapped in enough blankets to keep her warm despite the cooler northern air, I waited for her to begin bombarding us with questions. But she seemed as happy to sit and stare at me for the moment as I was just to be with her.

"I missed you, Mom," I eventually blurted. "I'm really sorry I couldn't let you know that I was alive. I wanted to tell you, but it wasn't safe, though I promise I was going to find a way...I just didn't know when."

Edward's harrumph caught my attention, and I spared him a chagrined glance.

"What? You can hardly blame me," I muttered. "Anyway, it's a moot point, as what's left of the Volturi won't be bothering Mom now, nor will any other vampires—not if they don't want to have to deal with the...the..." I waved my hands in the air.

"The lightning bolts you can throw from your hands," Renee offered dryly, and I grimaced.

"Yeah…those." I shrugged and waited for her to say more, but she went quiet again.

"Vampires," she eventually murmured, and I nodded.

"The guys wearing the cloaks," she gestured back toward the open field, "they're vampires?"

"Ummm..." I hesitated for a second before reminding myself that now wasn't the time for cowardice. "Not just the ones wearing the cloaks. The others are vampires, too. Edward's family and friends are all vampires...well, except for the giant wolves."

"Let me guess...werewolves?" Renee's question seemed rhetorical and her tone remarkably calm.

"Shape shifters, actually," I corrected with a rueful smile, not overly surprised that my extraordinarily open-minded mother was taking it all so calmly…though I wouldn't have been surprised if she was suffering from shock.

"So..." She nodded, frowning. "The smooth-looking guy with the accent who brought me here was a vampire. Makes sense, considering how he picked me up like I weighed nothing and moved so fast I thought he was teleporting."

My breath hitched when I thought of something that I really should have considered earlier.

"Phil! Is he all right? Did Demetri hurt him?" I cried, Edward answering my frantic questions before Renee got the chance.

"He's fine…he was watching baseball on TV. Demetri left him alone, as he wasn't his target."

"How do you know that?" Renee demanded. "It's what that...that _Demetri _fella told me when I wouldn't stop asking about Phil on the flight, but how do you know it's the truth?"

Sighing, Edward rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, looking to me for help.

"We'll get to that, Mom," I offered, deciding that Edward's mind-reading ability wasn't an ideal starting point. "And we'll call and let Phil know you're okay really soon, but I need to explain what's going on first…what's _been _going on since the day of the fire."

Renee nodded, and after taking a deep breath, I started at the beginning, telling her about my first day at Forks High and the reaction Edward and I'd had to each other. She smirked and briefly teased me about first love, her smile quickly fading when I explained about my being Edward's singer.

"So he's a vampire, too." She looked from Edward to me, her tone flat. "You're dating a vampire."

"Umm…yeah." I shrugged, puzzled that she hadn't asked the most obvious question….about me. She'd already commented that I looked and felt different, not to mention witnessing what I could do, but she didn't seem ready to come out and acknowledge what that must mean.

Taking comfort from Edward's arm around my waist, I took another deep breath and continued, quickly reaching the part about Edward biting me and drinking my blood.

Renee's eyes shot to Edward's face, and he dropped his head, unable to meet her shocked gaze...not that I blamed him.

"S'okay," I murmured, patting his hand.

Glancing up to meet my reassuring gaze, he nodded for me to continue, and I quickly recounted how Rose and Emmett had come to my rescue and Alice and Jasper had used explosions and started a fire to cover Edward's actions...but glossing over just how bad the three days of torment were for me when I'd undergone the transformation from human to vampire. Renee listened intently, nodding from time to time but not interrupting while I continued, telling her everything that had happened to bring us to the present...my initial confusion, anger, and loss of control, including how I'd hurt Edward and his overwhelming remorse; the inexplicable draw I'd felt to be with Edward despite the fact that it was his fault I was in this situation to begin with; how I'd needed his touch to stay calm while I'd slowly adjusted to my new life; and how I'd come to forgive him.

I told her about Edward and me falling in love, doing my best to explain vampire _bonding—_the word 'mating' wasn't one I was about to use in a hurry—and about my shield, the wolves, and Jacob telling Charlie. Her brow furrowed and she went to interject at hearing that Charlie knew I was alive, but then sighed and gestured for me to keep talking. Finally, I told her about Tanya, the nomads, and the Volturi, explaining as best I could about the events that had led to the battle she'd just witnessed.

The only thing I didn't tell her was about my no longer single-status.

"So you're a vampire?" she asked when my words eventually trailed away.

I nodded, biting my lower lip.

"Forever?" she whispered, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I'm afraid so, Mom. But I'm okay...really. It's not that bad, and some things about it are actually pretty cool. I can still have a good life and go to college when I've gained a bit more control over my thirst and travel and do all sorts of things..." My rapid-fire words trailed away when I recalled that I couldn't add having children of my own to the list.

"It will be much easier now that you and Charlie know that I'm alive, and I can see you both," I added softly. "The worst part was knowing how sad you must have been believing I'd been killed."

"Sad doesn't even begin to cover it," Renee retorted, brushing at her eyes and then looking to Edward.

"It seems you have a hell of a lot to answer for," she stated, her tone more wry than angry. "I'm amazed Charlie didn't at least _try_ to shoot you."

Edward squirmed beneath her gaze and probably in response to her thoughts.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am for my actions, Mrs Dwyer," he offered in his most respectful tone. "But I can assure you that I have vowed to spend the rest of my existence making it up to Bella."

Renee harrumphed. "Somehow I don't think that's the only thing you two have vowed."

"Mum?" I squeaked, and she pointed to Edward's birth-mother's beautiful, diamond-banded ring that now adorned my left ring finger. I went to cover it with my right hand, but Edward stopped me, his eyes both brave and intense.

"Bella and I are very much in love," he admitted, addressing Renee while squeezing me tightly. "And, there is also the matter of the vampire bonding that she told you about, so yes...I have vowed to love and protect and stand by her side for as long as she'll have me."

"And you feel the same?" she asked me.

"I do." I nodded, hiding my smile but not overly surprised that she'd chosen to talk about my relationship with Edward before anything else. "I know it must seem a little crazy, my falling for Edward after what happened when we first met. But there's no one I'd rather be with, Mom, no one else I will ever love."

"Because of the vampire bonding," she muttered, shaking her head.

"No, it's not just that," I denied. "It's because he's perfect for me...we're perfect for each other."

"Don't you think you're a little young to be making decisions that are going to affect the rest of your life?" she demanded, but then she sat back, shaking her head. "Oh, what am I saying? This _is _your life now. I can't believe you're going to be seventeen forever..." Her voice broke on a sob.

I moved to sit beside her, ever so carefully wrapping my arm around her shoulder while she wept. My eyes locked with Edward's, and he smiled sadly.

"She'll be okay," he whispered, too quietly for Renee to hear. "It's just a lot to come to terms with."

I nodded and waited for her to cry herself out, murmuring reassurances but not daring to pat her back like I wanted to in case I accidentally hurt her.

"Sorry," she murmured when she'd finally stopped crying, wiping her eye on the edge of one of the blankets and then turning to cup my face with her soft, warm fingers. "You're alive, Bella. It's all that matters. As for the rest...I'll get my head around it, I promise. I'm just a little overwhelmed at the moment."

"Of course, Mom," I assured her. "We've got time, now, lots of time."

We exchanged smiles, but then mine faded when I thought of the other things I still needed to tell her.

"About the ring, Mom," I mumbled.

"Engagement?" Her eyebrows rose hopefully.

"Wedding." I winced, tensing my shoulders in anticipation of her reaction.

"You got married without me?" There was no missing the hurt in her voice or her eyes.

"Bella didn't want a formal wedding without her parents present," Edward interjected softly. "But she knew how much our making a permanent commitment to one another meant to me. So she agreed to marry me if we spoke our own vows to one another privately."

"Under normal circumstances, I'd totally agree that I'm too young to be married, but I love Edward with all my heart, Mom. Knowing that we'd be together forever, it seemed the right thing to do," I admitted, holding perfectly still while I waited for Renee's hurt to turn to anger, but her reaction took me by surprise.

"Awww, that's so sweet..." she murmured, her eyes tearing up once more as she looked from Edward to me. "I can't believe my baby's married." She reached for me, and I let her hug me again, carefully keeping my arms from closing around her.

"And she's a freaking vampire with superpowers!" she startled me by squealing, pulling back to flap her hands excitedly in front of her. "Does that mean your children will have powers, too? Not that you should be thinking about having babies anytime soon. You're still only seventeen, and even if you're not going to age physically, you need time to mature mentally before you become a mother, especially with everything else that's going on in your life. You're already the most responsible, nurturing person I know, but you deserve to have some fun first, and a baby is a lifetime commitment..."

Her words faltered when she finally took in my sad and Edward's pained expression.

"Oh..." she murmured. "No aging...no changing...no pregnancy, I'm guessing."

"No, Mom, no pregnancy. Vampires can't have children," I admitted somberly, relieved when Edward came to sit beside me. He took my hand in his, and I dropped my eyes to watch his thumb circle soothingly over my knuckles. With a sigh, I rested against his shoulder and he leaned down to kiss the top of my head.

"I'm so sorry, Bella sweetheart," Renee murmured, drawing my eyes away from Edward's concerned and loving gaze and back to hers. "But my little girl is alive," she added, reaching to cup my face, "and that's all that matters."

"Thanks, Mom." Her look told me we'd need to talk about this again, but we'd both had very emotional days filled with unexpected events and disclosures. It was enough for now...or so I thought. Renee had other ideas, her brow furrowing and Edward's body stiffening at her thoughts.

"What?" I asked, looking up at him, but he just smiled, his expression suddenly very pleased. Annoyed at being left out of the loop, I turned to Renee for answers.

~OB~

EPOV

"I'm going to get to be the mother-of-the-bride!" Bella's mother cried, her cries of excitement echoed by my sister out on the field. Alice's visions had returned with the wolves' departure, and I couldn't help smiling at the glimpses I was catching of Bella's and my official wedding day. Some aspects were hazy, and I tried not to look too closely at Bella's gown, but all I really needed to see was the smile on her face and the love in her eyes to know that it would be a day for joy and celebration.

More visions flooded Alice's mind...visions of Bella's and my future as well as the rest of the family's...and my smile faded. Some of the images made no sense, and while I knew they were both subjective and fragmented, dependent on any number of intermediary events, one particular recurrent image was disturbing enough to warrant investigation.

"I'll be right back," I murmured, brushing my lips over Bella's brow before racing to where we'd left the cell phones in a bag, together with the extra blankets and the medical supplies we'd brought but ended up not needing for the wolves. I returned to her and her mother's sides in a fraction of a second, not wanting to alarm Renee by moving at vampire speed, but unwilling to leave them alone for any length of time.

Bella's level of control was unprecedented for a newborn, but she'd had an extraordinary day—one we'd yet to debrief or come to terms with—and I wasn't about to see it end on a disastrous note...not on my watch.

But my watch only extended so far.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, coming to stand at my side while I found the contact I wanted on my phone and pressed call.

"Sam?" she asked, confused. "Has something happened at home?"

"That's what I'm checking to see," I explained, not wanting to alarm her but trusting my gut that this was one vision I dared not dismiss out of hand.

Jasper and Alice approached us, listening in while we waited to hear if Sam would pick up. The wolves might still be en route as the distance was considerable, but after only five rings, the connection was made.

"Sam? It's Edward," I began, only to be interrupted by Seth's panicked voice.

"Edward! You need to get back here right away. I mean, seriously, man. We need you guys like...now!"

"What's happened? Where's Sam?" I demanded, one hand gripping the phone tightly while the other pulled Bella protectively against my side.

"He's kinda got his hands full. Do you think you could start running, and I'll explain while you're on the way?" Seth asked, making me wish I was close enough to read his thoughts as his words weren't telling me what I needed to know.

"Will do, Seth," I promised, and after gaining his assurance that he'd hold the line for a moment, I asked Jasper and Alice some questions of my own.

"Where are we with the decision-making? Can we all go, or do some need to stay behind?"

"We'll come with you." Jasper gestured to the family who'd gathered around. "The Denalis have got a good handle on things here and have offered to fly back to Volterra with Marcus, Demetri, and the others to help with the transition. They'll make sure no stragglers stay behind."

"Good." I nodded, relieved to see Esme approaching Renee and explaining that she'd need to carry her for the journey back to Forks. Thankfully, Bella's mother didn't baulk, her thoughts revealing she was as curious as the rest of us to know what was going on.

Within minutes, we were on our way, with everyone staying close while I quizzed Seth for answers.

"Okay, Seth, I'm listening," I informed him, purposefully keeping my voice calm despite my rising frustration and anxiety. Alice's vision of the future could be triggered by any number of events...none of them good as far as I was concerned.

"She must have a talent, Edward, 'cause the boys weren't slacking off, honest, but one minute the coast was all clear...and the next she was right there in the middle of the res."

"Victoria?" I demanded.

"Yeah," Seth acknowledged, despondently. "April was getting real antsy—all moody and stressing out and saying she didn't feel well, which is what happens just before the change, and Jacob was trying not to freak out, what with Sam not being there to oversee her first phase, and all. Then Victoria showed up in the tree line near Jacob's house, and Jacob had to phase to go help Colin and Brady. The three of them tried to keep her from going near any humans, but she's real slippery and kept bringing them closer to the houses. Then April phased, right in the middle of the fight, so yeah, it was a real cluster...well, you know."

"I can imagine," I acknowledged dryly, cupping the phone with my hand so that the wind rushing past as we sprinted through the forest didn't steal my words. "What happened then?" I asked, anticipating and dreading what he was going to say.

Seth's sigh sounded heavily down the line, and I glanced toward Bella, hating the worry I saw clouding her eyes. She'd been through enough for one day, and I suppressed a growl of frustration at not being able to protect her from more stress and potential heartache.

"Seth?" I insisted, and he took a deep breath before continuing.

"Yeah...well...Auntie Linda panicked and came racing out of the house after April who ran to help Jake. Then Chief Swan grabbed hold of Auntie Linda, trying to hold her back, and next thing, Victoria slipped right through the line and grabbed Linda right out of the Chief's arms and...well...she _bit_ Auntie Linda and started drinking her blood...right there in front of Jake and the others, as if she was _taunting _them or something!"

"Oh, no!" Bella cried, and I reached to clasp her hand while we ran.

"April went nuts," Seth continued. "Jake tried to hold her back with his teeth, 'cause she's his imprint _and _she's just a kid, you know...she's even younger than Colin and Brady. But she broke free and attacked Victoria, grabbing hold of her ankle and dragging her off her mom. Then the others joined in and, between the four of them, they managed to take Victoria down and started tearing her apart but..."

"But now Linda is changing," I finished for him, his ragged sobs confirming that it was too late to stop Alice's vision of the future from coming true.

_~OB~_

_**A bit of a cliffy, I'm afraid, but I wanted to give you a hint of what's coming up after Bella's reunion with her mother. I thought Renee handled that pretty well all things considering, but her character always strikes me as fairly adaptable if a little unpredictable. Now I've just got to work Phil into the mix. As for poor Linda...**__**a Quileute carrier of the wolf gene and mother of the youngest and most recent member of the pack becoming a vampire…and she'd already imprinted on Charlie? This could get interesting.**_

_**As always, I love to hear what you think...plus your amazing ideas and suggestions. You guys are the best inspiration. I'll try not to leave it too long before I update again, though unfortunately RL continues to be challenging. I need to win lotto so that I can quit work and just write all day every day. Oh…what a lovely dream. ;)**_

_**xxx TLSue**_


	54. Whatever It Takes

_**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I just like tweaking the Twiverse.**_

_**Than to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, for all their hard work and support. Thanks also to Content 1 for prereading and giving me some great advice about national parks in a continent on the diametrically opposite side of the world from me. :)**_

_**Well...last chapter certainly caught everyone by surprise. Thanks so much for all the great reviews, though I was a little taken aback by the comments about poor Linda being stuck as a middle-aged hag for all eternity! (I might be exaggerating those comments just a tad, as I'm starting to slide down the wrong side of the hill and am a little bit sensitive to the issue!) I mentioned in an earlier chapter that Linda is 34, and keep in mind that Charlie was a very young dad, so with Bella only 17, he's probably only 37 at the most, so they're plenty young enough to make a hot-looking couple of vampires. Just saying. ;)**_

_**My apologies for the stuff up, but I realised that I've made things extremely difficult for myself having Phil at home when Renee was abducted as there was just no way to plausibly explain her middle of the night disappearance - in her pyjamas and without her handbag, money, ID etc. I had thought of her saying she'd decided to hitchhike to Forks on a whim, but when I googled the distance between Jacksonville and Forks it was 52 hours by road! The last thing the Cullens need is the FBI landing on their doorstep, so I've decided to go back and rewrite that little bit of the last chapter and have Phil be away on a baseball training camp at the time of the abduction. It's too difficult to address otherwise. Sorry for the confusion!**_

_**Updated: Saturday, June 30th 2012**_  
><em><strong>Words: 3659<strong>_

Chapter 54

Whatever It Takes

BPOV

My mind reeled as I tried to make sense of everything that had happened. It felt like there was one momentous event coming at us after another, like a series of tidal waves, leaving us no time to recover or catch our breath between hits.

We'd survived the Volturi. Renee was safe; knew that I was alive, and she had handled the many revelations she'd been confronted with incredibly well…so far; and Victoria was dead and couldn't hurt any of us anymore.

But, at what price?

Linda had been bitten and infected with venom.

"What's going to happen to her?" I panicked. She carried the wolf gene, and I knew venom could be poisonous to wolves.

"She's not going to die...she's changing." I didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified by Edward's words. "Alice has already seen her as a vampire, but it's not going to be easy for her."

He didn't need to explain why. A Quileute and mother of the pack's newest wolf transformed into one of their mortal enemies? Talk about a conflict of interests. I could only imagine the anguish she would experience trying to come to terms with what had happened to her, and we all knew how badly she was suffering at this very moment, the agony of the change indelibly etched on our collective memories.

My heart broke for my dad. Watching Linda go through the transformation was going to be so hard for him, not to mention the prolonged separation that her newborn status would cause them.

Unless...

Unless Charlie became a vampire, too.

He'd already considered it, both to support me and to fight against our enemies. Now he had an even more compelling motivation.

After so many years alone, he'd finally found love again...and what a love? Linda had imprinted. She'd never grow bored with him, never find him wanting or decide to leave. No matter what life threw at them, she'd stay and fight to make things work between them...or she would have if Victoria had not intervened. If Charlie remained human, Linda would _have _to stay away from him for at least a year until her bloodlust was under control. That's if her newborn volatility combined with her desire to be with her imprint would allow it. If she was able to survive the time apart and didn't accidentally kill him, they'd have her far superior strength and his mortality to contend with...just a couple of the obstacles their human/vampire relationship would have to overcome.

The only way I could see things working out for them was if they were both vampires.

"Edward, what else did Alice see?" I asked as we ran at top speed through the forest on our way back to Forks. The two fastest, we'd gone on ahead with the rest of the family following behind, Esme and Carlisle bringing up the rear with Renee.

He didn't answer me straight away, but I saw his jaw tighten with strain.

"Edward?" I persisted. "Does Charlie become a vampire?"

Slowing a little, he caught my eye, his expression filled with compassion.

"He's going to ask to be changed," he admitted with a sigh. "But the outcome is undecided."

"Why?" I puzzled.

"It's a big decision," he sighed. "The wolves are sure to be in turmoil. Sam said he wasn't opposed to your father becoming a vampire when all our lives were at stake, but I doubt he'll be as accommodating now that the danger has passed. We're talking a blatant violation of the treaty, not to mention that it would mean the wolves having two more newborns on their doorstep. Carlisle's only bitten people who were on death's door, saving their life in the process. And then there's the change itself. It's one thing to say that it's _only _three days, but volunteering to go through that degree of torture after witnessing it firsthand..." He shrugged, his expression remorseful.

I nodded and increased my speed, intent on getting home as quickly as possible. After a quick consultation with the rest of the family, Edward had instructed Seth to have Sam transport Linda to our house before her condition drew too much attention. The last thing we needed was someone calling an ambulance or the police.

April was beside herself, refusing to be separated from her mother but unable to phase back, which wasn't unusual when a wolf shifted for the first time. It could be days before she calmed down enough to make the transition back to human, possibly longer, considering how distressed she was by what was happening to her mom.

Jacob planned to escort April over to our house as well, though he wasn't quite sure what he was going to do when he got her there. We'd have to take Linda down to the soundproof room so no humans heard her screams while we decided what to do, and it didn't sound like April had the control to come inside without destroying the place...or accidentally hurting her mom, who wasn't invincible yet—or Charlie, for that matter.

My dad was refusing to leave Linda's side, but he wouldn't be able to stay with her indefinitely, certainly not once her transition was complete.

All in all, it was an utter nightmare, though I kept reminding myself to be grateful. It could have been worse. Linda, Charlie, Jacob and the others...they could have all been killed.

We arrived a few minutes before Sam's truck, Linda's pitiful moans and whimpers, and Charlie's hushed murmurs of reassurance causing Edward and me to exchange a sorrowful look.

"Linda's trying to be brave," Edward murmured, wrapping his arm around my waist and drawing me close to his side while we waited for Sam to pull up in front of the house. "She's still aware enough to know that we can't afford to have the authorities notified, though she's mostly worried sick about April and trying not to make things harder on her daughter."

"Oh..." I cried softly, a sob catching in my throat. Edward didn't tell me what Charlie was thinking, but I could imagine his pain and saw it clearly written on his face when he exited the truck. He wanted to carry Linda, but Sam insisted on doing it as she weighed almost nothing to him with his wolf strength. I was relieved when Charlie reluctantly agreed as the last thing we needed was for him to cause himself an injury.

He stayed close to Linda's side, sparing me a quick look as they passed us on their way into the house, Edward having already opened the door.

"Glad to see you're okay, Bells," Charlie offered, and I nodded, wanting to rush to his side but holding back.

I needed to hunt. It had been less than twelve hours, but the battle had taken it out of me, which was hardly surprising, I supposed.

"We'll go hunt as soon as the others arrive," Edward murmured, and I smiled at how he read my body language as well as he read other people's minds.

"Where to?" Sam called from inside, and Edward left me to show them the way to our hidden room. To my relief, he ran on ahead and tidied up, thoughtfully eradicating any evidence of the way we'd spent our last night there together. Once Linda was settled with Sam and Charlie watching over her, Edward closed the door, muffling the sound of her increasingly desperate cries before returning to my side.

A few moments later, Jacob arrived, his large, red-brown wolf form hovering protectively over a smaller, caramel-brown wolf. April snapped and snarled at him when he blocked her from entering the house, and Edward and I both sighed with relief when Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie broke through the trees. Jasper quickly set to work, calming April enough for her to willingly lie quietly on the porch with Jacob close beside her. But nothing could stop her whimpers.

I hated to leave, but Carlisle and Esme would be here any minute—they'd traveled more slowly in consideration of Renee's needs—and my thirst was flaring. I couldn't take the risk of being around my mom or Charlie in my current state, so Edward and I took off into the forest for the quickest hunt we'd ever experienced. With so much going on, we weren't even bothered by the usual after-effects of drinking blood, though we did allow ourselves one brief, tender kiss of connection and reassurance before returning to the house to find...chaos.

Charlie was engrossed in an argument with Sam and Carlisle in the middle of the living room, his hands forming fists at his side and his voice raised.

"You were willing to let me be changed when you thought it might help in the fight!" he accused Sam. "You've imprinted, damn it. You know how strong the bond is. You've got to let them change me so we can be together!"

I'd never heard my dad speak so passionately before…about anything. Glancing at Edward to let him know that I had my thirst and vampire nature well under control, I moved to stand beside Charlie, offering him my support.

"You understand, Bells, don't you?" He turned to me, his tone practically pleading. "It's why you can forgive Edward for attacking you and why you were willing to marry him even though you're so young. I _love _her, but it's the bond, too."

"Yes, Dad. I understand." I nodded. "You'll do whatever it takes to be together."

"I can't let Linda go through this alone...to become a vampire without me. I'd have to stay away from her for months, maybe years!" he exclaimed, spearing Sam with his fiercest expression. "You wouldn't try to keep one of your pack members apart from their imprint."

"That's different," Sam growled, and Charlie threw up his hands in frustration.

"It's _no _different," he snapped. "We might not be a couple of teenagers, but that doesn't mean our feelings for one another aren't just as strong."

Sam backed down a little at Charlie's declaration, but the argument continued with all the reasons that Edward and I had already discussed being raised. In the end it came down to choice. It was Charlie's decision after all, and not even Sam could deny his right to be with Linda, especially when _forever _was at stake.

"I can appreciate why you want to do this," Carlisle assured him after Sam reluctantly granted his approval. "But I'm not comfortable with changing someone in cold blood. It's a risky business at the best of times."

"I'll do it," I declared, causing all eyes to shoot to my face. I waited for the understandable furor to die down before explaining myself. "What I mean is, you could use my venom," I clarified, shy but determined. "I thought, rather than have someone bite my dad, we could use a syringe...a glass and steel one, maybe, as I'm guessing the venom would dissolve plastic." I shrugged and looked to Carlisle who quirked his brow but didn't dismiss the idea out of hand. "Dad could even inject himself, if that's possible. Then no one would be responsible for his change, except for me for providing the venom, I suppose."

Charlie surprised me by throwing his arms around me in gratitude before quickly pulling back and eying me warily.

"Sorry." He grimaced, realizing he'd put us both at risk...though if I'd lost control and bitten him it would have been one way to give him what he wanted.

I smirked at the thought, but then my smile quickly faded.

"Are you sure about this, Dad? The pain is like nothing you've ever imagined. It won't feel like three days. It will feel like it's going on forever."

He winced at my words but not for himself, his eyes darting toward the door leading to the basement. Straightening his shoulders he turned back to face me, addressing us all.

"I'll do whatever it takes," he declared, sealing his future.

Things moved quickly once the decision was made.

Renee, who'd been watching curiously from the side-lines, contacted Phil, telling him she was okay but that she'd come to spend some time with Charlie and the Cullens while he was away. While no one was saying that she couldn't tell Phil that I was alive, she was undecided. It was his practical, level-headed nature, his yin to her yang, which had drawn her to him. And while he had always been supportive of her interests, she wasn't sure if his world view could cope with vampires and shape-shifting wolves.

Charlie left us to get on with working out the details and went back to sit with Linda while the rest of us explored our options.

"We need to remember that Bella's level of control isn't typical." Jasper smiled at me, and I rolled my eyes, though I was inwardly pleased and incredibly grateful for whatever it was that made me different. The last thing we needed was for me to be battling the temptation to attack my own parents. There was enough going on.

"Two typical newborns are going to be a lot to handle," he continued, grimacing.

"Try _impossible_," Emmett grumbled, and no one disagreed.

"Before Charlie's change, we'll need to relocate to somewhere remote, somewhere we can stay for at least a year, maybe more. It will need to be far from human habitation and with plenty of game," Carlisle noted. "The move will be tough on Linda, but the sooner we do it, the better."

A howl rent the air and Edward pushed me behind him, April going berserk at Carlisle's words and smashing her way into the house through the front window. Glass, wood and plasterboard sprayed across the room, and I lunged to where Renee was seated not far from the young wolf's lunging claws.

"Mom!" I screamed, afraid I wouldn't get there in time. April was lashing out indiscriminately, one of her huge paws catching my cargo pants and tearing a hole in the side. I grabbed the young wolf around the middle, doing my best not to squeeze her too tightly but determined to put some distance between her and Renee.

"I've got her!" Esme shouted, plucking my mom off the couch and running her up the stairs to safety.

Jacob howled and snapped at me, and I released April who spun to face me, growling and spitting. She lunged, and I carefully activated my shield, keeping it close around Edward and me. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt the girl—she was going through enough—but I couldn't let her attack my mom or Edward.

I tried to keep the strength of the shield low, but still, it was like she hit a wall, crumpling to the ground and whimpering. Jacob snarled at me, and I spread my hands apologetically, but before I could tell him I understood his reaction, April leaped to her feet and made a dash for the far too narrow hallway that led to the basement.

"Oh, hell," Edward muttered and dragged me backwards just as Sam phased in the middle of the living room, crowding Jake and the rest of us to the side and splintering what was left of the furniture as he quickly moved to block April's exit.

"Tell April everything's okay!" Edward shouted to Sam and Jacob over the sounds of her howls. "Wherever we go, she and the other wolves will be welcome. We're not going to keep her apart from her mother."

Sam nodded, his huge, dark eye trained on Edward's face. Then growling ferociously, he asserted his dominance and, between him and Jake, herded the half-crazed girl back out onto the front porch where she eventually quieted. In the eerie silence that followed, the rest of us stood staring at each other, wide-eyed and with dust slowly settling around us.

"Could this day get any worse?" Rose grumbled, picking bits of glass and plaster out of her hair.

"Renee could have gotten cut by the glass, and we could have added human blood to the mix," Alice responded wryly, hands on her hips while viewing the wreckage of the once elegantly furnished room.

I wasn't the only one to flinch at the horrifying thought.

"We're all still alive," Carlisle reminded us, running a hand through his golden hair to dislodge bits of debris.

"We no longer have the Volturi or Victoria to worry about," Jasper added, shoving broken chairs and pieces of the window frame up against the wall to clear some space.

"And Bella has her parents back in her life." Esme smiled at me kindly, coming down the stairs that reminded me of the last time the house had looked like a demolition crew…the day Charlie's scent caught me by surprise and I'd been caught up in a fit of bloodlust. "Renee's decided to take a nap, as she didn't get much sleep last night," she added. "She's had quite a day."

I snorted, my hand flying to my mouth to stifle the hysterical feelings I felt bubbling to the surface. Emmett barked with laughter, threatening my control further, but then Linda screamed loud enough for us to hear her despite the soundproofing. Our mood sobered instantly, Jasper quickly moving to stand by the opening in the wall and virtually swamping April with his talent. Between his help and Sam's control, she stayed in place but continued to whimper and shake in response to her mother's pain.

"Man, this is going to be a rough few days," Rose sighed, and I shuddered, imagining how I would feel when it was Charlie's screams filling the air.

"Time to get moving," Carlisle muttered, and we followed him through to the den where the computers were located, Sam assuring us via Edward that he had April under his control.

Emmett's, Alice's, and Edward's fingers were soon flying over the keyboards, while Rose and Esme started making calls. I watched on, fascinated at what was clearly a well-oiled machine in action. They'd obviously done this many times before: researching locations, organizing finances, exploring travel options, arranging for new papers and documents…closing down one chapter in their lives and opening up another.

Peering over Edward's shoulder, I looked on in awe at the magnificent properties they were considering, but when my opinion was requested, I just shrugged, more than a little overwhelmed.

In no time, our options were narrowed down to just a couple of places, and after a quick discussion and vote, everyone settled on a recently renovated hunting lodge deep in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska that had only just come onto the market. It included a huge central building that could easily house us all, with ample room for a large number of guests and over a dozen luxury cabins scattered in the nearby woods. The amenities were all top notch, with every sporting, recreational or entertainment facility imaginable, including a massive indoor pool and spa, heated by the nearby hot springs. Energy was supplied by a state-of-the-art hydrothermal generator.

By offering well above the already astronomical asking price—an amount of money that left me stunned and with my mouth hanging open—they obtained permission to take possession the next day and a guarantee that the caretakers would vacate immediately. I felt bad for them and was glad to hear that they'd be compensated, too.

With only one road into the area and none leading to the resort—it was that remote—the next thing I knew, Rose and Edward were discussing the benefits of seaplanes versus helicopters for transporting us and our belongings to our new home.

"You can fly a helicopter?" My voice rose in astonishment, and Edward turned to me with a grin.

"Of course." He shrugged. "Though I prefer flying planes. Jets are the best, but landing a seaplane is pretty cool."

"_I _prefer helicopters," Rose added, and I snapped my mouth shut, aware that I was gaping. Why shouldn't they be able to fly things like helicopters and jets and seaplanes? Their intelligence and reflexes were superhuman, money was no object, and they had all the time in the world to hone their skills…when they weren't masquerading as high school students.

"I prefer helicopters, too," Emmett added. "But you can fit more supplies in a seaplane, and since the lodge overlooks a decent-sized lake and waterways...and we already have a seaplane, which I've arranged to have serviced and fueled as we speak...I'd say seaplane it is." He waggled his eyebrows, and I giggled, wondering if I would ever stop feeling like Dorothy in the land of Oz.

"Like I told you in the beginning, Bella." Alice grinned and came to wrap her arm around my shoulder. "It's good to be a Cullen."

I didn't argue the fact. Even though I was worried about both Linda and my Dad, I couldn't deny the excitement welling within me at the knowledge that they were going to become one of us. Charlie wouldn't age, wouldn't die, and I wouldn't have to leave him behind. Of course, I still had to face those issues with my mom, but at least she knew I was alive and we could make the most of the time we did have together,...hopefully decades.

Jake and his girlfriend, once they overcame the obstacles before them, would also have the option of immortality, something I had yet to get my head around, though the idea certainly held plenty of appeal.

And then there was Edward: my best friend, my soul mate, my life. I loved him more than I thought possible, and despite being their newest member, I felt very much a part of his family…my new family now.

"Yes…it's good to be a Cullen," I murmured when Edward took Alice's place, drawing me into his arms and leaning down to gently kiss my forehead. "Very good indeed."

_~OB~_

**_It has taken me by surprise, but I've come to the realisation that this story is nearly over. I promise to tie up all the loose ends and give us some substantial glimpses of the future...but we're nearly there, folks.  
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**_The changes FFn have made to the reviewing process make it much easier to leave a comment. You can even review on your phone without having to go through the nightmare of logging in. Yay! But please remember, I can only reply if you've logged in and have your Private Messages enabled (it's under settings in the Account tab on your login page.)  
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**_So... __I was wondering if you'd like to help Once Bitten reach the rather __amazing milestone of 3000 reviews by leaving a comment? I'll reply to as many as I can, especially if you ask a question or request a reply. :)  
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**_xxx TLSue  
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**_PS: someone left a great review and included a story rec. I don't know if I accidentally deleted it, but I haven't been able to find it again and would love it if you wouldn't mind resending. I'm always after recommendations for great stories, preferably with HEAs, well...only with HEAs if I'm honest - I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to tragedies or too much angst! I've just read Transcendence by Savage7289 which was absolutely amazing, but some of her other stories are just too dark and gritty for me!  
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	55. Transitions

**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I just continue to Tweak the Twiverse.**

**Thanks so much for helping Once Bitten receive 3000 reviews. You guys are wonderful. :D**

**I have a scary/marvellous announcement to make. (repeated from my latest A Forbidden Love Chapter's Author Notes – thanks so much for the amazing support.)**

**This week I was contacted by an editor from a reputable, middle-sized publishing company asking me if I would be interested in submitting an original story for possible publication as a book and e-book for international marketing and distribution. To say that I was gob-smacked is a considerable understatement! They like my story ideas (a historical romance and the other an original paranormal series), and they think that I could potentially do well in the mainstream market with both. Of course, there are no guarantees that they'll publish either, but they seem very interested as they like my writing style and existing stories.**

**I promise to keep you all posted as to how this exciting but scary new venture goes, and I'd love to hear what you think. Sorry for the long AN.**

**Thanks, as always, to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro.**

_Updated: Monday, July 9th, 2012  
>Words: 2680<em>

Chapter 55

Transitions

EPOV

The Lodge, as our new home became known, lived up to all our expectations, providing everything our growing community required: space, privacy for individual couples, the ultimate in comfort and amenities, abundant hunting grounds, and, above all, a safe secure place to call home. Not that the first few days and weeks were easy, and getting there was nothing less than an ordeal.

It would take the wolves the better part of a week to run the distance. While they were as fast as vampires over the short distance, unlike ours, their bodies tired and needed rest and sustenance, unable to maintain that level of speed indefinitely. We quietly advised Sam to take his time as even after Linda's transformation was complete, she would need a few days to gain any sort of control over her reactions. The last thing we wanted to see was for her to accidentally harm her daughter.

Convincing April that it was in her mother's best interests for her to cooperate with the plan had proved futile. Our attempts to explain the risks and the reasons for the separation were met with howls of fear and fury despite our reassurances that she would be reunited with her mother as soon as possible. Taking a newly-phased wolf inside an aircraft was clearly not an option, so we were left with no alternative but to have Sam subdue the girl with an Alpha command. Though Sam assured us it was part of pack-life and that he would release his hold on her as soon as she was calm and more reasonable, it wasn't something we were overly comfortable with.

April was not yet fourteen and very afraid, the sight of her quivering and whimpering under Sam's irrefutable control leaving us all distressed. Her thoughts were in continual disarray, and both Carlisle and I worried about the long-term psychological implications of what, in any other circumstances, we would view as abuse of a minor. But we had no choice. Jacob never left her side, doing his best to comfort and reassure his young imprint, but we all knew that the sooner mother and daughter were safely reunited, the better.

The second obstacle we had to overcome was the actual move. Transporting a perpetually screaming woman, one who had to be strapped to a gurney to prevent her from injuring herself or her silent but increasingly distraught partner, _Charlie, _was no easy matter. The location where the seaplane awaited us was far from isolated, and the chances of our transferring Linda without alerting the human population was non-existent.

"What about the Lear?" Rose suggested, her thoughts picturing the one Demetri had landed on the field. "He and Heidi were going to fly it back to Volterra."

"Shouldn't they be long gone by now?" Emmett queried.

"He mentioned needing to refuel in Seattle," Jasper interjected. "But if the lust coming off him and Heidi was anything to go by, I think he was planning to find the nearest landing strip so that they could spend some time together now that they're freed from Aro's domination."

Emmett snorted. "If that's the case, I'd be surprised if they even got off the ground...or if there'll be anything left of the plane when they're finished."

"I doubt they'll go that far," Jasper noted wryly. "Demetri struck me as a very controlled individual, and he was definitely sincere when he promised that they would not hunt in our hemisphere. If he allowed the plane to be destroyed, he'd have to break his promise to us, and I think that is highly unlikely."

"It damn well better be," Bella growled, returning from sitting with Linda and her father and wrapping her arm around my waist.

"I hate to interrupt the guy, considering this must be like a honeymoon for them, but I think we need his help," Emmett admitted, and though uncomfortable with the idea, I couldn't disagree.

In the end, we utilized both aircraft, the Lear and our own, quickly commissioned helicopter, as it was the only aircraft we could get close enough to risk a transfer, Rose landing it expertly behind the house.

It was a very subdued group that oversaw Linda's carriage from the basement room to the helicopter, Carlisle staying close to monitor her condition.

Charlie paused just long enough to say farewell to Bella and for a brief reunion with Renee where she fortunately chose _not _to call him out on keeping her ignorant of their daughter's survival. She understood that he'd had no real choice but she was struggling to quell her indignation at his having known that Bella was alive while she'd continued to grieve.

"I hope everything works out for you, for _both _of you," she offered, her eyes filled with distress at witnessing Linda's suffering and the realization that Bella had gone through the same thing.

"Thanks," Charlie responded gruffly. "I'm glad _your _okay. Sorry we have to leave straight away."

"It's okay." Renee nodded, her eyes moving to Bella. "I know she's all right, and we'll see each other again soon, won't we?" She sounded uncertain.

"Of course, Mom," Bella assured her, carefully touching her shoulder. "And we'll talk every day."

After giving both his ex-wife and daughter a hug, one tentative and one extremely cautious, Charlie went to join Linda, Emmett, Rose, and Carlisle in the helicopter. They lifted almost immediately and made the short flight to where Demetri and Heidi awaited them with the jet without mishap.

My worry that Demetri might _not _answer our call had fortunately been unfounded. He'd picked up on the second ring and immediately agreed to be of service, relieved to be able to do anything to get into the good books of the coven that had taken out a force he'd believed indestructible.

At the other end, the procedure was reversed, with Demetri landing the jet at a small, deserted airstrip near a lake where the seaplane awaited them for the final leg of the journey. He and Heidi repeated the flight several times to assist us in the transfer of those belongings we wished to take with us. Along the way, they asked numerous questions about a lifestyle they found bizarre but intriguing due to our belief that it allowed for us to develop much stronger bonds of love and friendship than was considered usual for vampires...even those who'd found their mates. Having been denied the fullness of his relationship with his mate for so long, he was determined to make up for lost time and found himself looking upon our family, with our intense bonds and strong couplings, with both curiosity and an unexpected longing to experience the same thing.

Bella and I stayed at the house until the final transfer, wanting to make the most of the time we could spend with Renee. After a prolonged and tearful goodbye, Esme escorted Bella's mother home to Jacksonville. She wouldn't be able to visit us again for at least a year, the risk of her being around a newly phased wolf and a soon-to-be newborn vampire too great to take. But we promised we'd stay in touch and meet with her when we could.

We'd made it clear that the choice was hers, and two weeks after discovering Bella was alive, she told Phil about her adventures. He handled it surprisingly well once he got over his understandable concerns regarding his wife's sanity. Skype was a big help, the images he'd seen of Bella alive, moving at vampire speed, and employing vampire strength going a long way toward convincing him Renee was telling the truth...that and seeing Jacob turn into a giant wolf and then revert to his human form.

Fortunately, Alice saw no problems with Phil and Renee knowing the truth as neither of them had any intention of telling another living soul; Renee to protect her daughter, and Phil in support of Renee and Bella...and because he didn't think anyone in their right mind would believe him.

We were only able to visit with them a couple of times during the year at a safe location far from newborns, new wolves, or inconveniently prying eyes. But Bella and her mother kept in regular contact using Skype, emails, and texts, so they didn't feel the distance too keenly.

Linda's transformation went remarkably smoothly considering her interesting genetics, though we were all curious to see what, if any, effects her ancestry would make on her unique vampire form. Charlie, unable to part from his new love's side while she was suffering so greatly, decided to wait until the last possible moment to begin his own transformation. When the time came, he gently kissed Linda's by now smooth and paler than usual cheek, embraced Bella in a careful hug, shook my hand, and then made his way to the distant cabin where we'd decided to perform his change, his back straight and his resolve unwavering.

Once the venom was running through his veins, he would be safe from Linda's newborn thirst, but he wanted to be as far away from her as possible so as not to distress her if he was unable to refrain from crying out in pain as he hoped. His consideration touched us all, and none of us let on that the relatively small distance would make no difference to vampire hearing.

Bella's suggestion for using a syringe was one we discussed, debated, and ultimately welcomed, though, in the end, it was decided that Carlisle should be the one to administer it. Bella didn't have the skill—or the stomach for it, she reluctantly admitted—and once the venom hit his veins, Charlie would be in no state to administer the multiple shots required to make sure the change occurred as quickly as possible. Sam and the other wolves had yet to arrive, a blessing as far as we were all concerned, so with minimum fuss, Charlie Swan said goodbye to his old life and stoically accepted the torture that would herald his new one.

The next few days were challenging to say the least. Linda was a far more typical newborn than Bella, almost uncontrollable with grief and rage at being separated from her daughter and mate. It took our combined efforts to stop her from running back to Forks in search of April, and it was only when we took her to be with the silent but suffering Charlie that she finally calmed enough for us to explain what was happening and assure her that she would be reunited with her daughter shortly.

Other than that initial, all-hands-on-deck moment of madness when we'd needed her strength to subdue Linda, Bella never left Charlie's side. I stayed with her as much as possible, only leaving to help guard Linda on her twice-daily hunts, the actions of a more typical newborn making us all the more aware of how unique my wife truly was.

Charlie's transformation was the quietest one I'd ever encountered, as he refused to make a single sound despite the torture he was undergoing. We were all in awe of him and more than a little curious to discover what his unique talent would be. Between his fortitude, partial shield, and having Bella for a daughter, no one was willing to take odds against Charlie having some sort of ability.

"Whatever it is, he's going to make one hell of a vampire," Emmett declared on the third day while we awaited Charlie's awakening. "Not a bad-looking dude, either," he added speculatively.

"Emmett," Bella hissed. "That's my dad you're talking about."

"So?" Linda's smile was decidedly self-satisfied. Already an attractive woman, vampirization had taken away the signs of aging that had begun, leaving her looking closer to her mid-twenties than her actual age of thirty-four. The same could be said for Charlie. Gone were the deeper crows' feet that had begun to form around his eyes, the slight bagginess beneath them, and the beginning of jowls and a paunch. In their place was a man who could have almost passed as Bella's older brother. He insisted on keeping the mustache despite Alice's and Rosalie's pleading that he shave it off before his change.

"I've had it since I was teenager, and I'm not about to lose it now," he declared adamantly before a surprising blush stained his cheeks. "Besides, Linda likes it," he added, ducking his head.

"End of story then," Emmett muttered, earning an elbow in his ribs from me.

We were all intensely relieved when Charlie's reaction to becoming a newborn vampire was more like his daughter's than his mate's, his calm acceptance of our explanations and instructions making life a lot easier than it might otherwise have been. If there'd been any doubt in anyone's mind that he and Linda were meant to be together, they were well and truly dispelled the first time their eyes met upon his waking. While Charlie did his best to maintain some level of decorum, especially around his daughter, he insisted that Carlisle perform a simple wedding ceremony for him and Linda even before he had his first meal as a vampire. Linda wanted to wait until April could be present, but Charlie merely told her they could have as many weddings as she wanted, but he planned to start things right between them...and waiting was simply not an option.

The next few days were interesting, having a couple of newlywed, newborn, newly-mated vampires to oversee. But we all agreed it was best to allow them as much uninterrupted time together as possible before April arrived.

"What about me?" Bella muttered in the middle of the first night when she was unable to block out the sounds of her honeymooning father and stepmother. "It's all very well to worry about upsetting April when she gets here, but I'm not exactly finding this easy either!"

Turning on the stereo in our own private luxury cabin, I distracted my wife the best way I knew how, supplying a little payback noise of our own.

Fortunately, by the time April and the others arrived, Charlie and Linda had their impulses a little more under control...with judicious support from Jasper, of course. The reunion between mother and daughter was a bittersweet affair, temperature and aroma issues making the newfound differences between them all the more apparent.

"You're alive, Mom, that's all that matters," April said when she could finally stop crying, having learned how to phase back to human during the journey that Sam had thoughtfully dragged out for as long as possible. Her words echoed both of Bella's parents' reactions when they'd discovered she was alive, but a vampire, and were what April tried to focus on whenever the circumstances threatened to overwhelm her. She'd matured dramatically during the previous ten days, both physically—now more closely resembling a young woman than a teen—and emotionally. The bond between her and Jacob was also clearly evident, raising any number of complications that her mother and new stepfather weren't quite ready to deal with.

April may have not yet turned fourteen and Jacob was only sixteen, but they were both fully physically matured...and shared a double imprint. While Jacob stated repeatedly that he had no intention of taking advantage of a minor, it didn't take one of Alice's visions to foresee some drama ahead.

But for now, life was good, settling quickly into a surprising new pattern...one none of us had predicted.

Bella was reunited with her family, the Volturi were no longer a threat and functioning surprisingly well in their new, more democratic incarnation, Linda's change and our victory over shared enemies had brought about a new level of cooperation and harmony between the wolf and vampire communities, and the future—though still fuzzy—looked promising.

Now all we had to do was learn to adjust to living with our expanded family, create new traditions, and eventually, once newborn volatility was no longer an issue, make time to celebrate...Bella's and my official wedding with both her parents in attendance high on my personal list of priorities.

_~OB~_

**A bit of a 'transition' chapter (lol!), but some happier times ahead. I don't know about you guys, but I'm more than ready to get to the fluffy stuff. ;)**

**Any ideas for what Charlie's and Linda's talents should be - or if they should even have any? I'm a tad overwhelmed with everything that's been happening, and I'm coming up a blank. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.**

**Next chapter is already written and will be up in a few days. :D**

**Thank you, again, for all your amazing support.**

**xxx TLS**


	56. Joy

**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I am seriously going to miss tweaking this particular alternate Twiverse. Sigh...**

**Thank you all so very much for the best wishes and encouragement for my potential publishing endeavors. I promise to keep writing for the Fandom (I'd miss you guys too much if I stopped!), and I will let you know when I've got my pseudonym and a webpage sorted if you'd like to check out my original fic if it gets published. If it doesn't...I'll post it here! If you wanted to, you could put me on author alert so as to be kept apprised of my other stories and news. I'm never offended if someone 'de-alerts' me (LOL!) so that's not something you have to worry about. **

**Thanks for the great ideas for Charlie's and Linda's potential talents. Most of you didn't think Linda needed one, and at first I agreed. But then I got to thinking...**

**Just a heads up that I mean no disrespect to Renee or Phil in this chapter, but I just _had _to find a way to...well, you'll see. ;) (A bit more explanation in the ANs at the bottom.)  
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**Thanks to my wonderful betas, Squeaky Zorro and Chloe Cougar, for going above and beyond with these last two chapters. I've added quite a bit in to this one after it was beta'ed, so any errors are mine. **

**Updated: Thursday July 12th 2012  
>Words: 4876<strong>

Chapter 56

Joy

EPOV

Alice had outdone herself.

After the many glimpses I'd been unable to avoid seeing from her visions, I found myself staring in pleasant surprise at the setting she'd created for Bella's and my special day. She must have deliberately made some unlikely decisions to create the diversionary alternatives I'd seen, featuring a myriad of garish balloons, topiaries, and floral arches. In reality, she'd respected our wishes and kept the ambiance suitably understated.

The wide expanse of emerald lawn that stretched from the front of the Lodge down to the lake had been manicured to perfection. The low shrubbery bordering the area where the ceremony would take place was a cacophony of color, but of the natural, floral variety. White, satin-covered chairs formed rows of seating, the aisle Bella and the girls would walk down created by low tubs spilling over with the same brightly colored flowers interspersed with lanterns that glowed in the soft, evening light.

"You ready?" Jasper asked, he and Emmett coming to stand beside me. I nodded, my throat uncommonly dry even though I'd hunted just the night before. The three of us, dressed in our wedding finery of black morning suits, white shirts, cummerbunds, vests, and ties, with white roses in our lapels, made our way slowly through the milling guests to our places near the water.

We'd timed it so that Bella and I would speak our vows at sunset, and warm reds, golds and purples were already beginning to streak the sky behind us, the colors reflected in the glass-like surface of the lake. The lanterns that lined the foreshore were barely visible but would come into their own after the sun dropped behind the snow-capped mountains beyond the lake.

"Thanks, Alice," I murmured, knowing she was eagerly awaiting my response from inside the suite where she, Rose, and Bella were waiting. "Everything looks perfect, and I'm sure Bella will love it."

_I know, _she thought back excitedly, relief still evident in her thoughts even though she'd not had any trouble using her gift when the wolves were around for almost a year now.

We'd all wondered how Linda, with her wolf genetics, would take to becoming a vampire, in particular whether or not she would possess any extra talents. While there had been plenty of emotional adjusting for her to do, at first it seemed that her genetics had played no significant part in her change. Then Jacob, April, Sam, and the others had arrived a week after Linda's transformation, and we discovered the extent and value of her gifts to us all.

As long as Linda was nearby, Alice's visions did not disappear as they normally would have when the the wolves were in proximity. Alice was over-joyed to have her ability returned to her in its fullness, we all were even though our experience with Bella had taught us to beware of complacency.

Linda's other gift could be considered both blessing and curse, though she was fortunately learning to control it, something of which I tried not to be envious.

She could hear the wolves' thoughts when they were in animal form, just like the other pack members.

Sam hadn't known what to think of that at first. She was a vampire after all, though one sworn to protecting human life, her determination not to drink human blood as strong as any of ours. But then I reminded him that I could hear their thoughts whether in human or wolf form as well, and he'd sighed resignedly.

"At least she's technically still one of the tribe," he'd muttered. "And it is convenient as she can relay messages to the rest of you even when we're quite a distance away."

Hundreds of miles to be precise, as wolf telepathy had a far greater range than my mind reading, something of which I was not envious.

The problem for both Linda, Jacob, and April was that she could hear the young couples' increasingly amorous thoughts and see the images that went through their minds, in particular the numerous and unavoidable times they saw each other naked when phasing back from wolf to human. Between Linda being a newborn vampire and mother to an almost fourteen-year-old who could easily pass for twenty one and was doubly imprinted on her fully mature mate, the fact that Jacob had received no more than a few scrapes and bruises from his future mother-in-law was testament to her self-control. I doubted I'd have been so forgiving if April was my daughter.

Charlie's talents were equally useful if less unexpected. The fact that he could block other vampire's talents at will, mine included, was hardly surprising considering the partial shield he'd possessed as a human. His talent only worked on himself at first, but with diligent application, he was gradually mastering the ability to extend it to one or two others if they were touching him, his primary motivation being able to protect his wife. So far, he'd shown no evidence of an offensive talent, his shield being purely defensive. But his uncanny ability to read both emotions and motivation bordered on the supernatural.

All vampires were good at reading people, as we could easily discern the minute facial movements that gave away a person's true feelings, regardless of their efforts to hide them. But Charlie's ability seem to go several steps further, and while he couldn't project emotions, nor was he affected by them like Jasper, he could read an individual and the emotional temperature of a room every bit as well as Jasper, along with being able to discern the truth of a situation with uncanny accuracy.

"A human lie detector," he'd mused when he was first testing the range and scope of his abilities, causing Bella to laughingly hug him around the middle.

"Don't you mean a _vampire _lie detector, Dad?" she'd teased. "Though I don't think you'll have any trouble reading humans either once you're safe to be around them."

He'd been particularly pleased by that idea, though he kept his thoughts hidden in regards to whatever plans he may have for how to use his abilities in future. What he did let me know was that adjusting to life as a vampire and working on his control so that he did not accidentally harm a human, enjoying a degree of wedded bliss with his beloved mate that he'd not thought possible, and enjoying being around his beautiful daughter and her extended family were more than enough for him for now..

As of this very moment, escorting Bella safely down the aisle was his primary objective.

_Ten more minutes,_ Alice informed me, her thoughts immediately returning to reruns of every royal wedding she'd seen in the last sixty years so as to block my view of Bella in her gown.

I didn't mind. Soon enough I would see her dressed in an undoubtedly beautiful gown—one of the thirty or so Alice had given me glimpses of to keep me guessing—and would publicly acknowledge my love to her before our families, friends, and acquaintances. With no legal requirements to fulfill, we'd decided to forgo a minister and speak directly to one another from our hearts. Having already spoken the traditional wedding vows in our meadow, we'd agreed it felt wrong to say those specific words again...as if we hadn't meant them or taken them seriously the first time.

We were already married in every way and had lived incredibly happily as husband and wife for the past year. Today's ceremony marked our first anniversary and an opportunity for us to declare our love and commitment for one another in front of the people who mattered to us most...along with a few interesting guests.

Rocking on my heels, I looked out over the assembled crowd as they moved to take their seats. Despite the fact that Bella and I were already bonded to each other in every way possible, I couldn't help feeling a little nervous about the coming ceremony. I just hoped the words I'd prepared to say to her were sufficient to express the depth of my devotion. Knowing how little she enjoyed the spotlight, I was also concerned that she might not enjoy the evening ahead, my biggest fear that some tactless individual would say something to upset her, in particular reference to her having almost single-handedly brought down the Volturi.

"They look at me like I'm the Incredible Hulk, ready to explode into a fit of fireball-throwing rage at any moment," she'd grumbled the first time we'd received visitors from Volterra.

"They're a little in awe of you, that's all," I'd reassured her.

"Well, maybe they could be in awe of me without cringing every time I lift a hand to brush my hair out of my eyes," she'd muttered crossly.

Her pout was adorable, but I didn't need to be able to read her thoughts to realize just how uncomfortable our guests' behavior was making her feel. A few quietly spoken words of warning had helped temper the worst of the Volturi members' reactions. But a number of Carlisle's and the family's oldest friends had been invited to the wedding, arriving in a stream of seaplanes and helicopters over the previous few days. While we'd requested they try not to make Bella feel uncomfortable, they couldn't seem to help treating her a little differently. So far, they'd mostly managed to suppress their desire to cringe in fear, cheer, or bow whenever she walked by.

Needless to say, Jasper's theory that the tale of our triumph would quickly spread throughout the vampire world, Bella's spectacular involvement in particular, had proved correct. It was a good thing, I reminded myself, and had made the transition of power from Aro's millenna old regime to the new, more democratic Volturi gratifyingly smooth. But if anyone did or said anything to upset my bride this night, I would show them that Bella's talent was mere child's play compared to an enraged, protective groom on his wedding day.

An involuntary growl rumbled in my chest, and Jasper placed a steadying hand on my back.

"Your emotions are all over the place," he murmured, his talent helping me to regain my calm. _We have no enemies here, _he assured me, and I nodded imperceptibly.

Looking to the front row of seating, my eyes found Carlisle and Esme, and I drew strength from my surrogate parents' reassuring gazes.

_You've done well, son,_ Carlisle thought my way. _We couldn't possibly be prouder of you or happier with__ your chosen mate. We love Bella like a daughter. She is a dear and valued friend, and we are incredibly pleased that she has become a part of our family._

I nodded in acknowledgment of his thoughts, hiding my smile at the realization that I'd be hearing the same words again later in the evening when he made his toast.

Sifting through the thoughts of our guests, I relaxed a little. They were almost unanimously filled with best wishes for Bella and me, anticipation for the ceremony to start, and excitement regarding the food and festivities planned for later in the evening—that particular sentiment coming mostly from the large Quileute and wolf contingent present.

Blowing out a deep and unnecessary breath, my eyes moved to meet Renee's tear-filled gaze.

_I can't believe my baby's getting married for real, _she thought, images of Bella from when she was just a newborn—human that is—until the present filtering through her mind and comforting us both. Noticing my attention, she smiled and thought slowly and deliberately, _Hello Edward; you look very handsome tonight, _a frown of concentration marring her brow.

I hid my smirk at Renee's stubborn belief that I could only hear those thoughts she specifically directed my way.

Bella's mother was as unique as her daughter, just in different ways. I still found myself marveling on occasion at the way she'd handled being abducted in the middle of the night by a red-eyed vampire, not to mention what she'd witnessed on the field the day of the battle. At first, I thought her level of calm acceptance had been unnatural, the result of severe shock, or that she must have been heavily medicated to treat her grief-induced depression. But it turned out she wasn't under the influence of any major external factors, having refused her doctor's suggestion that she try anti-depressants and relying only on some mild, herbal remedies and her favorite yoga guru's relaxation tapes.

Renee was just naturally resilient and unnaturally accepting of the supernatural. She'd joked with me when I mentioned it that if the movie Independence Day was based on fact, she'd have been one of those standing atop a skyscraper waving a "Welcome to Earth" sign. It was just a lucky thing for her that the creatures she'd encountered hadn't been interested in global domination or destruction...and that they'd turned out to be both so awed by and afraid of her daughter's talent that they wouldn't dare harm a hair of her mother's head.

Demetri hadn't stopped apologizing to Renee since he and Heidi had arrived two days before the wedding, admitting to me that he still couldn't believe Bella had left them alive after the insult he had delivered to her mother. He'd also revealed that he'd been under orders from Aro to keep Renee alive at all costs, as the fiend had intended using her to control Bella if necessary. In a strange way, his forced obedience to Aro had saved his life, for if he _had _harmed Renee in any way, he would not be alive to regret it.

Typically, Renee had brushed aside Demetri's and Heidi's concerns, assuring them there were no hard feelings and complimenting them on their newly golden eyes—another remarkable change sending shock waves through the remaining Volturi guard and vampiredom in general. I wasn't completely convinced their actions weren't motivated by fear of Bella's talent and desire to garner hers and our favor, but time would tell. Renee certainly seemed to think they were genuine, even going so far as to express gratitude to Demetri, whom she credited with reuniting her with her daughter.

There were some aspects to Bella's mother's nature that I would never comprehend, but for which I would forever be grateful...even if she occasionally caught me off guard with her unique world view and mind-boggling revelations.

While intensely relieved to be a part of Bella's life, having believed she'd lost her daughter forever, Renee had grieved that she would never be a grandmother. It wasn't that she'd been in a hurry for her daughter to have a child, quite the opposite, but the knowledge that Bella would never experience motherhood had distressed her deeply. Unavoidably aware, I'd respected her wishes to keep her feelings private so as not to upset Bella, something I had absolutely no desire to do.

Arriving a week before the wedding on her first visit to our new northern home, Renee had been keeping a secret, one she'd planned to hold onto until after the ceremony so as not to steal Bella's thunder. What she hadn't taken into account was the sensitivity of our vampire hearing which had revealed _two _heartbeats where there would normally have only been one.

"Mom? You're having a baby?" Bella had pulled back in surprise after gently embracing her mother, her eyes wide in her lovely face.

"Oh, sweetie, I wasn't going to tell you until later," Renee had cried, disappointed. "But I should have known you'd guess. It's the glow, isn't it? Or is it the weight gain? Phil says I look great, but I feel all fat and bloated."

"You look wonderful, Mom, and it's definitely the glow," Bella had lied kindly, her hand reaching for mine and grasping it tightly. "How many months pregnant are you?"

"Four and a half."

Bella had gasped. "You kept it a secret from me for that long?" She'd sounded a little hurt.

Rather than make excuses, Renee had raised an eyebrow archly. "This coming from the daughter that let me believe she was _dead _for over two months!"

While the words were harsh, her tone had been teasing. Renee understood why she'd been kept in the dark, but the memory of those agonizing weeks still haunted her. She'd brushed off Bella's apology, letting her know that it wasn't necessary, and went on to explain that she'd wanted to tell her in person.

"But then we received the invite for the wedding," she'd said, smiling up at Phil who was still staring around wide-eyed, his thoughts trying to take in the _actual _presence of multiple vampires and potential shape-shifters though everyone was giving us what privacy they could for the reunion.

"I didn't want to stress you or take away from your big day, so I was going to wait until afterward to talk to you about it."

"It's okay, Mom. I'm so excited for you," Bella had assured her. "But what I don't understand is why now? You like traveling with Phil, and a baby will really tie you down."

Bella's expression had been clearly worried, and I'd wondered if she was recalling her own childhood when she'd often ended up mothering Renee rather than the other way around.

"Well..." Renee and Phil had exchanged a glance, the intention their thoughts revealed causing me to stagger back a step, stunned.

Suddenly, there'd been total silence throughout the compound, as every one of our family members within hearing distance stopped what they were doing to listen intently.

As if sensing the change in the atmosphere, Renee had lowered her voice to an ineffectual whisper. "You know me, Bella. I'm not much for mothering, and Phil's career is taking off. We didn't plan this, but as soon as I realized I was pregnant...well, I knew what I wanted to do."

Tears had filled her eyes and mine would have been gushing if it were at all possible. I didn't know if Bella had caught on, but her eyes never left her mother's face.

"Do what?" she'd whispered.

"Remember when I was thinking about becoming a surrogate mother? How I said I would love to be able to do something so amazing for somebody who couldn't have a baby, but it just never seemed like the right time?"

Bella had nodded dumbly.

"Well...this little girl is yours, Bella, yours and Edwards...if you want her, which I just know you will."

A loud crash had sounded from inside the house, but I was too focused on what was happening to be able to tell if it was Rose or Esme who'd dropped the vase.

"Ours?" Bella breathed, standing frozen.

"I'm not up for the whole mothering thing again, but I'll make a terrific nanna, I promise...even though I am _way _too young to be a grandmother!"

"But...but..." Bella's mouth had ended up hanging open.

"I know the timing's not great with you two having only been together a year, and I've always warned you against having a baby too young. But you're a born mother, Bella, and it's obvious to me that Edward will make an amazing father. Besides, you'll have so much support. They say it takes a village to raise a child." She'd swept her hand out, gesturing to her surroundings. "Look at this place and all the people who live here...built-in babysitters. Plus you guys never need to sleep, and you don't get tired..."

"Mom," Bella had interjected. "You don't have to convince me. But are you sure this is what you want?"

"We're both sure," Phil had spoken up. "We'd like you to let the baby know who we are, and we'll visit often, of course, but more in the role of grandparents than parents." He'd shrugged, but his thoughts had revealed the sincerity of his words. Phil was an uncomplicated man. He'd not planned on fatherhood, his life revolving around baseball and Renee. In fact, he was relieved.

Bella's and my feelings were difficult to put into words. She'd instinctively gone to hug her mother, and though she no longer had the extreme strength of a newborn, I'd worried she might forget to temper herself in her emotional state.

"Bella!" I'd called, grasping her upper arm, and she'd frozen before spinning to hug me instead, squeezing so tightly it had reminded me of those crazy days back in the beginning when I'd regularly had my ribs or fingers crushed. It was only when she was sure she had herself well under control that she ever-so-carefully embraced her mother and our growing baby in a loving hug.

The knowledge of our impending parenthood added a new dimension to..._everything._ Bella had assured me repeatedly that she was fine with the fact that we were unable to produce a child, periodically reminding me of any number of reasons why that might have occurred even if we were both human: accident, illness, or infertility being the primary culprits. But to say that she was overjoyed at the prospect of becoming a mother to her biological baby sister was a considerable understatement.

At first, I was so overwhelmed with the enormity of Renee's and Phil's gift to us that I could barely function, having to assure everybody repeatedly that I was fine...and happy...incredibly happy about becoming a father.

As for the effect the news had on the rest of our family, suffice to say, a week later, we were all still in somewhat of a daze.

Swallowing back the lump in my throat, I brought my focus back to the present, nodding a greeting to Phil and letting my eyes wander over our now seated guests.

Hiding a smile, I wasn't surprised to note that a natural demarcation had occurred, with vampires on one side of the aisle and wolves and Quileutes on the other. Linda's thoughts revealed how grateful she was to have the worst of her newborn volatility behind her—like the worst parts of being a teenager all over again, she'd complained on occasion. The only vampire to take a seat on the _wolf _side of the aisle, she'd kept a spare seat at her side for Charlie, and with April, Jacob, and Billy, made up the rest of the front row. Harry, Leah, and Seth took up the second row, with Sam, Emily and the rest of the pack members and their respective partners behind them.

They made for a very attractive group of individuals, _almost _as good-looking as the vampireside of the aisle...though I was admittedly biased. My beloved was a vampire, and pale skin and golden eyes would always be my preference, well, my _first _preference.

Brown eyes would always be special to me, and now a future memory, courtesy of Alice, informed me there was another eye color soon to be added to my favorites list.

Unable to get past the fear that I would not be a good father despite Renee's, Bella's, and the rest of my family's arguments to the contrary, Alice had taken time out of her frantic wedding preparations to reassure me. Linda and Charlie had been away on a hunting trip when Renee and Phil arrived, both determined to be fully prepared for when the only two humans coming to the wedding who did have links to the Quileutes and therefore possessed blood that actually smelt appetizing would be in no danger from them. But as soon as Linda had returned and she and Charlie apprised of our astonishing news, Alice had taken Linda and aside so that she could scan the future for me, her plan to find proof of my hopefully sufficient parenting skills so that I could stop worrying.

The visions of the future she shared with me flooded my mind while I awaited my bride, and this time I couldn't suppress a smile.

With brown hair and a heart-shaped face just like _both_ of her mothers, and Phil's blue eyes and athletic ability, our little girl was going to be stunningly beautiful. That we would adore her was a foregone conclusion, but I'd been relieved to see how relaxed and comfortable she was in our world. Whether as a baby being cuddled and soothed by a never-ending succession of arms, though the images of Bella holding our baby were the ones that had touched me most, literally bringing me to my knees; as a toddler learning to walk while I held her little hands, riding on my hip or shoulders, or snuggled beside me while I read to her; or as an older child laughing and giggling while we played vampire/human hybrid games of hide and seek, our daughter was clearly well-adjusted, healthy and happy.

I couldn't ask for anything more.

The temperature difference was one of my major concerns, but Alice had seen us using heating pads, electric blankets, and quilts to warm our hands and bodies so that we didn't chill our baby...our child.

She was close to all three sets of doting grandparents, the images reassuring me that, while Phil and Renee would love their biological daughter dealing, there was no evidence to believe that they would come to regret their decision. We would let her know the truth about her unique heritage and the unusual world of which she would be an integral part from an early age, but no matter which direction Alice's visions took, the outcome appeared positive. My only concern the fleeting images Alice had seen of our daughter when she was almost fully grown being romantically pursued by both a young-looking vampire and a teenage member of the Quileute tribe, neither males being familiar to me.

At my growl of protective, fatherly displeasure, Alice had abruptly cut off that particular vision. "Let's not borrow trouble before time," she'd insisted when I'd asked her to look again, and I'd reluctantly agreed. Our little girl wasn't even born yet, but I never forgot a face, and I'd be keeping an eye out for any amorous young males who thought they could come sniffing around _my_ daughter before she was...thirty!

The one thing Alice _refused _to reveal was her name.

"I'm not going to tell you, so don't bother prying," she'd stated primly. "You heard what Renee said. It's up to you and Bella to choose your daughter's name. I don't want to rob you of that joy. Besides," she'd admitted grumpily, "you haven't decided yet."

It was hard to say if it was intentional or not, but her words had placed the seed of an idea in my mind, one that Bella had agreed with wholeheartedly.

Of one thing I was certain. Our daughter...our _Joy..._would live up to her name.

"It's time!" Alice chimed from inside the lodge, and the music began to play, a piece that I'd composed and recorded specifically for this special moment. I'd originally considered having Rose play it live, but she'd been adamant that she wanted to walk down the aisle.

"Bella's as much my sister and friend as she is Alice's," she'd insisted, not that I'd meant to imply there was any less depth to hers and Bella's relationship by my suggestion. I was glad they were all so close, even if Rose still had the propensity to rub me the wrong way on occasion, as I did her. In the end, I'd enjoyed the hours I'd spent learning and recording the different orchestral pieces that made up the music and the challenge of creating a piece of recorded music that would appeal to both human, wolf, and vampire hearing.

As one, the guests rose to their feet, and all eyes turned to see my beloved if at times quarrelsome sisters standing at the top of the stairs to the lodge. Dressed in three-quarter length violet gowns and carrying posies of cream flowers, they looked as lovely as always, Jasper's and Emmett's thoughts letting me know how awed they both were by their wives.

In time with the music, the girls made their way down the stairs and along the path toward us as the sun lowered in the sky, its dying rays bathing the scene in a golden glow. I smiled when I met their eyes, but my gaze returned immediately to the steps of the lodge.

Time stood still while I waited for Bella. Mere seconds passed, but it reminded me of the years I had spent waiting for her to come into my life, shut off in my own little cynical world...alone...lonely. But I wasn't anymore, I reminded myself as I heard her tell her father that she was ready, and I never would be again if I had any say in the matter.

The soft sound of footsteps heralded their approach, and I prompted myself to breathe. But then my bride and her father appeared through the wide open doorway, and my heart lodged in my throat so that breathing was no longer an option.

Stunningly beautiful didn't even come close to describing how she looked in her long, flowing ivory satin and lace gown, her hair caught atop her head with tiny braids, and soft tendrils framing her face.

A collective gasp rose from the crowd, but I paid no notice, my spirit, soul, and every crystalline cell in my body focused solely on my wife...my mate...my Bella.

_~OB~_

**I am going to miss these two and their wonderful family. Just one chapter left to go. **

**What did you think of the Charlie's and Linda's talents? Poor Jacob and April. I'll let Bella tell you how they're er..._coping_ in the next chapter, but I'm curious as to how much leeway you guys are willing to give me in regards to Aprils' actual age compared to her 'supernatural' age. Do they have to wait until she's 16? She's almost fifteen at the end of this chapter, and just a reminder that throughout most of history, that would have been considered marriageable age. Not that I'm advocating that in general. Just saying...  
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**So...Renee's and Phil's remarkable gift. I know it might seem a bit far-fetched, but it's something I considered having to do for my daughter (but fortunately wasn't necessary) and I would have done it in a heartbeat, so it doesn't seem that strange to me. Sorry if it seemed a bit sudden, and I can see why some readers would think they should have talked to Edward and Bella about it first, but I ran out of time/space/sanity to write a whole other chapter to address it! Besides, it was a last minute idea, and I was so excited to think of a remotely plausible way to give Edward and Bella a child, that I might not have thought through all the implications.  
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**Thanks for reading. You know I love to hear from you. :D **

**xxx TLSue**

**PS – Lots of story recs from my wonderful readers (and a couple from me, too)!**

Edward's Eternal - Snowbound reced by Daisy Grace

Downward Spiral by Content1 – reced by me. I was scared to start this one because the summary is so dark. The first two chapters were seriously harrowing, but then the worst is over. It is an amazing story, and I am captivated.

The Day the Earth Stood Still by Sareliz - reced by Isolde1224 (not as dark as it sounds!)

I remain, Yours by Momatu - reced by Sherryola

De Immortalitate and An Italian Winter by Raum - reced by Camilla10

Pinned but Fluttering by CassandraLowery – recced by LadyLibre and me (Incredibly dark and angsty beginning – LOL! First 17 chapters were soooo harrowing – but well worth persevering!)

Romany by Britchick69 - recced by petra-eyes, anncarol, and an anonymous reviewer

There were others, but I forgot to save them immediately from the reviews, and now I can't find them! Sorry if I've missed your rec. You can resend if you like, and I promise to include next chapter.


	57. Everlasting

_**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I've just been tweaking the Twiverse...and what an adventure it has been.**_

_**This is the last chapter of Once Bitten, and I just want to say a huge thank you to my betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, for all the help, hard work, encouragement, and support they've given me over the last year and a bit. Thank you so much to Content 1 for prereading, hotwardfangirl for helping me through the challenging middle section of the story, and everyone who has read, reviewed, recced, tweeted, and supported this story in any way. **_

_**Updated: Saturday, July 21st, 2012  
>Words: 6756<strong>_

Chapter 57

Everlasting

BPOV

Staring at my reflection in the full-length mirror, flanked by Alice and Rosalie, I couldn't help but be reminded of the first time I'd seen myself as a vampire. At the time I'd been confused by the image of the three beautiful women staring back at me from the large mirror in the bathroom of the Cullens' luxurious home. I'd recognized Alice and Rosalie immediately, but the identity of the brown-haired beauty in the middle had been a mystery to me...not to mention the fact that _my_ reflection had been missing.

Once again, I was confronted by an image of three undeniably stunning women, made all the more so by their exquisitely crafted gowns, lightest hints of make-up, and artfully styled hair. But having been a vampire for a little over a year, I had no trouble recognizing myself this time.

I was beautiful—there was no point denying it—but far more importantly, I was comfortable with who I was regardless of how I looked.

Becoming a vampire had given me the confidence to stand beside Edward and know that we were well-matched. But being _loved_ by him had given me so much more, his feelings for me going far deeper than mere physical attraction. It had taken me a while to accept, but I'd come to believe that even if I'd stayed the shy, insecure, and decidedly awkward human girl I remembered, he would have loved me anyway.

"Alice, Rose," I murmured, turning to smile at them both. "Thank you so much for all your help with the dress, my hair... _everything_."

"You're very welcome," Alice replied. "I'd tell you Edward's reaction, but you already know what it will be."

"He'll think I'm beautiful no matter what," I agreed, speaking quietly so that he wouldn't hear. "But this..." I gestured to my reflection, "will blow him away."

"I've warned Jasper and Emmett to be ready to prop him up when his knees buckle," Alice chuckled, and we exchanged knowing smiles. Much to Edward's chagrin, I'd eventually been let in on his reaction to my "parading" in the little black dress for Alice the night Tanya and the Denalis had arrived at our Forks home. Falling over and breaking things wasn't exactly typical behavior for a vampire.

Edward had begged me to wear the dress again the first time we'd taken a vacation away from the family five months after I'd been changed. Sighing contentedly at the memory of the magical few days Edward and I had spent exploring New York together, visiting the theater, art galleries, and museums, and making excellent use of the luxury suite he'd booked in our hotel over-looking Central Park, I couldn't help wondering what he had planned for our honeymoon. All he would tell me was to pack a white bikini and that we wouldn't have to worry about seeing another living soul the entire time we were away.

Tingling with anticipation at the thought of the nights and days ahead, I gave myself a little shake to refocus on the present. _First_ we had to get through the official wedding which, to my surprise, I was actually looking forward to, and _then _we could enjoy the official honeymoon. Though, to be honest, the last year had felt like one long honeymoon with Edward. Well...other than the times when we were engaged in life or death battles with the Volturi; dealing with the aftermath of nomadic attacks; helping newborns, who just happened to be my father and new step-mother, adjust to their new life; or chaperoning my lovestruck best friend and his mature-beyond-her-years imprint who was not averse to using her formidable feminine wiles to test his resolve—and all our patience—to the limits.

"Hey, at least I didn't imprint on a baby like Quil." Jake had shrugged when I'd asked him how he managed to stay so calm in the face of April's provocation. "A couple more years is nothing, and then we've got forever. I don't even have to worry about having to stop phasing so that she doesn't age before me."

I couldn't believe how much Jacob had matured in the last year, and I was incredibly proud of my friend for the way he was handling a challenging situation...not to mention his self-control. From the very beginning, I hadn't been able to keep my hands off Edward, despite the fact that he'd attacked me and was responsible for my being changed into a vampire and what I'd believed was the permanent loss of everyone and everything I held dear. But at least Edward and I had waited a month before surrendering to our overwhelming desire for one another. My _dad _hadn't managed twenty-four hours!

Shuddering at the memory of those early days before Edward had set his mind to developing a vampire soundproofing system for our individual cottages, giving Charlie and me a much needed reprieve from having to listen to the other's amorous adventures, I couldn't help the rueful smile that curved my lips.

I may have taken to being a vampire better than anyone Jasper had ever encountered, but my dad came a close second. From the moment he'd opened his eyes he'd taken everything in his stride, his moods remarkably stable for a newborn. In fact, I'd never seen him happier, the changes, both physical and to his temperament, amazing me still. Of course, he _l__ooked _incredible; a younger, fitter, and undeniably more handsome version of the father I'd known and loved, but it was more than that. Charlie had always been so self-contained, seemingly content to lead a very simple life. He'd had his work, his friends in Billy and Harry, his fishing, and me. I'd worried that he must be lonely, but he'd never complained or professed to wanting more. Admittedly, things had started to change for him before he became a vampire, Linda imprinting on him and his falling in love with her in return the biggest thing to have happened in his life since Renee had left him, as far as I knew. But it was more than that, and I recalled him trying to put it into words for me not long after his transformation.

"I feel fantastic, Bells," he'd acknowledged when I'd commented on the changes I couldn't quite put my finger on. "Fast, strong, alert. I wasn't exactly getting _old, _despite how it might have looked from your perspective." He eyed me wryly. "But I was getting, I don't know...tired, I guess. I don't think I ever really recovered from losing your mom. In some ways, I just shut down. Having you come and stay during the summers was the highlight of my year, and when I thought I'd lost you for good..." We'd both shuddered at the memory. "Finding out that there was this entire fantasy world existing right under my nose, in _my _town...well, I got to tell you, Bells, while I can't express how relieved I was that you were alive, it also knocked my confidence.

"Falling for Linda when I'd pretty much given up on finding love again was something, I can tell you, but this," his encompassing gesture had taken in his new form, new home, new _life, _"this is like nothing I could have imagined in a thousand years."

"It's pretty cool, isn't it?" I'd agreed, and we'd shared a grin. "I tried to tell you, but..."

"Yeah, well..." he'd harrumphed. "I know my memories are a bit fuzzy, but I don't recall you mentioning anything about the effects of drinking blood. I've got to say, that was one hell of a shock. It reminded me of some of the stuff your mom and I got up to before she fell pregnant with you..." his words had trailed away at my stunned expression.

"You and mom did drugs?" I'd exclaimed, not sure whether I was horrified or impressed, not that I'd ever been interested in experimenting myself. While neither of us could blush anymore, there'd been no mistaking Charlie's embarrassment.

"Nothing to speak of, really," he'd muttered. "Certainly nothing that could come close to the whole blood-drinking thing."

"It is pretty amazing," I'd agreed, letting him off the hook.

"Still going to miss your lasagne and home-baked pies," he'd sighed, his expression drooping a little. "Not to mention drinking coffee and beer."

"That will fade, Dad," I'd assured him, remembering how upset I'd been in those early days at the thought of all the things I'd never be able to enjoy again. I was just two months ahead of him in this life, yet I hardly ever even thought about what I was missing, so incredibly appreciative as I was for what I now had. "Just wait until you taste something other than deer or antelope. Mountain lion is _amazing, _though you have to watch out for the claws as they'll rip your clothes to shreds. And you should hear Emmett go on about bear."

Charlie's full-bodied laugh had startled me at first, but then I'd found myself joining in even though I wasn't completely sure why we were laughing.

"Never pictured us having a conversation remotely like this one," he'd eventually explained when he finally stopped guffawing. "I couldn't even get you to bait your own hook, and here you're giving me hunting advice...up close and personal, kill the animal with your bare hands and teeth so that you can drink-the-blood-and-get-high-as-a-kite hunting advice."

"Pretty surreal," I'd agreed with a smirk.

"Speaking of surreal," he'd continued, his tone becoming both serious and a little wary. "You and Edward and the whole vampire soulmates thing. You lasted an entire month before getting, er..._married_?"

"Ummm...yeah," I'd muttered, not meeting his eyes.

"And whose idea was that...to wait, I mean?" he'd persisted despite my giving off every subtle and not-so-subtle vibe imaginable that I was excruciatingly uncomfortable with the topic.

"Oh, a bit of both. At first I was in shock, I guess, not to mention _grieving._" I'd eyed him ruefully. "Then Edward wanted to, you know, do things right. He's kind of old-school. Why?"

"Just wondering." He'd nodded thoughtfully before patting me awkwardly on the shoulder. "Four whole weeks. Well done, kiddo, well done," he'd murmured before turning and walking away, leaving me staring after him, my mouth agape.

My relationship with Charlie changed after that, but in a good way. He was still my dad and always would be, but we became friends, equals, and a lot more relaxed around each other. While essentially still the same stoic individual he'd always been, he smiled more often, his wry humor coming to the fore, and his behavior around his new wife was an ongoing revelation. Charlie was so smitten and smooth, Emmett nicknamed him "The Lady's Man," a tag he wore with pride.

Linda was lovely, the two of us quickly becoming great friends, though I sometimes had to chuckle at the sheer number of mother figures I now had in my life. A couple of days before the wedding, Edward and I were discussing how to use our mothers' names for the new baby. But we had _four _to consider: Renee, of course; Elizabeth, Edward's birth mother; Esme; and now Linda. There was no way we wanted to give the baby that many names and our attempts to combine them into something unique had been laughable.

"We'll think of something, love," Edward had assured me when my chuckle had turned into a slightly hysterical sounding sob. Wrapping his arms around me he'd pulled me close, his touch soothing me as it always did.

"I just can't believe this is happening," I'd admitted reluctantly, not wanting to sound ungrateful or to annoy him by going over ground we'd already covered.

"Alice sees everything turning out fine for _everyone. _Even though we'll be raising a human baby among a family of vampires and shape-shifters, she'll be the most loved, nurtured and _protected _baby and child on the planet. If anything, I can imagine you scolding me for being overprotective and not allowing her to take any risks."

We'd shared a smile at the image his words conjured, but then my frown had returned.

"That's not what you're worried about, is it?" he'd asked, reaching to soothe the creases from my brow.

I'd sighed. Of all people, I should've known that this was just the sort of thing my mother would do and be both at peace and happy about it. But it was such an incredible thing...to carry a baby inside your body, to grow and nurture and give birth to it, and then give it to someone who was unable to have a baby to raise and love as their own, even if that someone was your daughter. I wasn't sure that I'd have been able to do it myself, which made me feel guilty for being so excited about accepting her and Phil's astonishing offer.

"Sweetheart, Phil and I are good; in fact we're thrilled to be able to do this for you and Edward," Renee had assured me when we'd had sought them out to discuss the concerns I couldn't shake. "I know it would have been better if we'd had the chance to discuss it beforehand, but this just happened out of the blue...and _no, _I didn't forget my pill. I take the injection, so it's like it was meant to be. The timing's a bit off for _you _guys, but I'm sure I would have thought of it at some point in the next ten years before my childbearing years were up."

"But how can you two be all right with this?" I'd persisted. "It's not like you've already had children together. What if you decide you want a baby of your own at some point?"

I'd addressed my question to Phil who seemed to be altogether too relaxed about it for my comprehension.

He'd shrugged and given me his laconic half-smile. "Bella, you've got nothing to worry about. Baseball's my life, and I love having your mom with me when we're traveling. I've seen some guys trying to do it all—play, travel, and keep a family together—and it's not for me. I know you never got to meet any of them, but I've got more nieces, nephews, and cousins than you can poke a stick at, so I've had my fair share of family life. Besides, your mom and I won't be strangers. We'll visit often and catch up with you and the baby."

"So, you're really okay with this?" I couldn't hide my amazement as the reality that Edward and I were actually going to be parents had started to sink in.

"You betcha, honey," Phil had insisted, his arm around Renee's waist and a big smile on his face. "I'm just sorry we kind of sprang it on you."

"What would you have done if we'd said no?" I'd surprised myself by asking.

Both Renee and Phil had stared at me blankly.

"But why would you do that?" Renee had sounded so puzzled I'd had to suppress a chuckle when I'd realized my wonderful, impulsive, lovable mother hadn't given that possibility a thought. "You've been mothering the neighbors' kids and the kids on the reservation for as far back as I can remember. Heck, we both know you were more the mother in our relationship than I ever was," she'd admitted unashamedly. "My only sadness over this whole vampire thing was finding out you wouldn't be able to have a baby of your own. I suppose you and Edward could have adopted now that you don't have to worry about those Volturi getting upset over the secret. But this way, at least you and the baby will be related. Alice said she's even going to look like you, just with Phil's blue eyes."

"Mom, it's okay, you don't have to convince me," I'd assured her. "Edward and I will cherish this baby like she was our own_...literally._ I just needed to be sure you guys had fully thought this through."

"We have; now be happy," Renee had insisted. "You've got two days until your wonderful wedding, a honeymoon to look forward to, and then four months to get ready for parenthood. Please don't waste the time fretting. Everything is going to be fine, and I don't need Alice's freaky gift to know that...I just do."

"Thanks, Mom. You really are the most amazing mother...ever." It had been difficult to get the words past the lump in my throat. I would miss her and Phil when they left after the wedding, but Phil had to get back to spring training. They'd be returning to stay with us in time for the birth, Renee more than happy to have Carlisle act as her obstetrician. He'd promised to have a fully equipped birthing suite set up well in advance, with a birthing pool and anything else Renee might want or need. A natural childbirth...drugs...whatever she wanted was okay with me, Alice assuring us repeatedly that both Renee and the baby would be fine no matter what type of birth she chose.

"Three hours from start to finish," Alice predicted. "With mother up and about the same day and our beautiful baby girl feeding, sleeping, and pooping with clock-work regularity by the end of the first week."

I didn't mind her use of the word "our," Rosalie and Esme being equally as excited by the idea of having a baby in our midst to love and nurture and watch over as I was.

"What about when she grows up and keeps aging...and we don't?" I'd whispered my other concern to Edward when it was just the two of us later that night. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing? Will it be fair to her...to us? Can you imagine watching her getting old and then _dying_ one day, knowing that we'll just keep going on the same as before?"

"That's going to happen whether she's our daughter or your little sister. It's part of being a vampire, Bella; the price we pay for immortality," he'd murmured, rocking me in his arms as we'd sat overlooking the lake from our second story balcony.

"Maybe she'll choose to become one of us?" I'd mentioned a thought that had already begun to tickle at the back of my mind. "That way she could stay a part of our family forever, like Dad and Linda."

I'd made the same offer to Renee, not overly surprised when she'd declined. As relaxed as my mom was about the supernatural, she was down to earth in her way, content to live her life to the full but only the once, as nature originally intended. Edward had tensed at my suggestion for our baby girl.

"What?" I leaned back to capture his worried gaze. "You don't like that idea?"

Shaking his head, he'd taken a moment to reply.

"The _old _me would have argued vehemently against it; fearful for her soul and not wanting to deprive her of her human existence, but..."

"But that's a bit difficult to do with me sitting here in your lap, soul intact, thank you very kindly, and perfectly happy with my lot in life?" I'd admonished gently, and he'd shrugged, his expression rueful.

"I guess we'll leave the decision up to her," he'd offered, and I'd relaxed, satisfied with his answer. "Though I hope you realize that I'll be putting a ban on any of the wolf cubs from visiting until she is at _least _twenty-one, preferably thirty."

Chuckling, I'd understood his point immediately. "Afraid of one of them imprinting on our daughter and ending up with a wolf for a son-in-law? Not to mention, they'd want to hang around and wait for her to grow up, and once she hit puberty, we'd have all the dramas to contend with that Linda has with April and Jake?"

Edward's fierce growl was the only answer I'd received.

"Thank heavens Jake's already imprinted," I'd mused aloud when Edward had finally stopped growling, my words just about sending him into apoplexy. "Well, he and I have always shared a bond, and the baby will technically be my sister. It would have made sense, in a way, if he'd imprinted on her," I'd defended.

"Can we _please _talk about something else," Edward had pleaded, his expression beyond pained. "This is our baby girl you're talking about. She's not even born yet, and you're imagining scenarios that could give a vampire gray hairs."

Chuckling, I'd relented, content to enjoy our last night together before our honeymoon. We'd decided to spend the next night, the one before the wedding, apart...or rather, the family had decided for us.

"It'll make it that much more special on the day if you haven't spent the night together," Rosalie had insisted as resident expert on multiple weddings...to the same husband.

"She's right," Emmett had surprised me by agreeing with her. "Believe me, it will feel like it's been _years, _not just one night, so you can imagine how hot for each other you're going to be on your wedding night."

"Emmett," Edward had growled, but I'd just chuckled, comfortable with his teasing since I generally gave as good as I got, and quite looking forward to the experience. There was something to be said for letting the anticipation build.

Which brought me back to the present...again. I hadn't seen Edward since unforgivably _early _the evening before, and my longing to be reunited with him was reaching unbearable levels.

"Is it time yet?" I asked Alice, and she nodded.

"Almost, just one last thing." She tilted her head toward the hallway outside our room where I heard my father's lighter-than-air tread and my mother's human footsteps approaching. Renee was still a little in awe around the new and improved version of Charlie, and I knew she couldn't help comparing herself unfavorably in the aging stakes...something we all went to great pains to reassure her about, in particular emphasizing how the pregnancy made her glow.

Alice opened the door before they could knock, to a roll of Charlie's eyes and Renee's grimace at being startled.

"Never going to get used to that," she muttered, but then she looked up and met my eyes, hers widening and instantly filling with tears.

"Oh, no...my mascara!" she exclaimed, and then gratefully took the lace handkerchief that Alice offered to carefully dab at her eyes.

"Bella, sweetheart, you look so beautiful," she whispered, slowly approaching while I did a graceful pirouette to give her the full effect, showing off the cutout lace work that made up the back of the glorious gown.

"You look lovely, too, Mom," I told her honestly, her long, lilac gown complimenting Alice's and Rosalie's varying shades of lavender and making her look way too young to be my mother.

"And, whoa...Dad." I stared at him in amazement. "Rocking the tux."

"It's an Armani." He shrugged nonchalantly, and then we both broke out laughing at the incongruity of the moment.

They'd come to give me a joint gift, a diamond and sapphire hair clip that had once belonged to my grandma, and Rose carefully inserted it into the back of my hair.

"Now you're ready." Alice beamed, and Renee went to take her seat next to Phil, leaving us to wait the remaining minutes until the sun was at the exact height it needed to be for everything to go according to Alice's plan.

Edward and I would be saying our vows as the sun set behind us, which I thought was a lovely idea. So even though I was practically vibrating with impatience to be with him, I waited...and waited...for Alice to say the magic words.

"It's time," she eventually chimed loud enough for the vampires and wolves outside to hear. The music that Edward had created, his talent for composition astonishing us all, began to play, and Alice and Rose went ahead to begin the walk along the pathway to where their husbands were waiting.

"You ready, Bells?" Charlie asked, his eyes shining with fatherly love and pride.

"More than ready." I nodded, taking a deep breath.

For someone who didn't particularly like being the center of attention, I kept finding myself in that exact position. But as Charlie and I made our slow, steady way down the flower-and-lantern-lined pathway to where the man of my dreams and heart and future awaited, I didn't mind in the least. I knew if I looked around, I'd see all the people I cared about, along with some interesting guests.

Our friends from the reservation were all there; wolf-pack members and their partners sitting across the aisle from an odd assortment of visiting vampires, mostly vegetarian but not all, though our numbers were definitely growing.

The assembled guests contained visiting Volturi guard members, some old—such as the now-vegetarian Demetri and Heidi who I'd managed to forgive for abducting my mother and had developed quite a soft spot for, and the still red-eyed Marcus and the wives, who'd insisted on coming to pay their respects to the woman they insisted on referring to as their queen or empress..._me..._much to my family's delight and my utter dismay—and some new, both golden-and-red-eyed, having come from all corners of the globe to be a part of the new order.

Eleazar and Carmen were present, having been welcomed with open arms when they'd arrived a few days earlier. Laurent and Irina had accompanied them, Laurent surprising us all by having fully embraced the vegetarian lifestyle. It appeared that the longer a vampire could go without drinking human blood, the deeper the bond he or she formed with his mate until the mate's wishes and needs became their priority. Irina needed Laurent to become a vegetarian like her for them to be able to stay together, their bond now so strong that it was no longer a great hardship for Laurent to deny himself.

Kate sat beside a very handsome, blond-haired vampire named Garrett whom she'd only met two days earlier but who was already asking questions about the alternate lifestyle she espoused. He'd barely left her side since the introduction, and his hungry eyes followed her constantly in a way that gave us all hope that Kate's lonely single life would soon be at an end.

Of the Denalis, only Tanya hadn't made the journey from Volterra where they'd taken up residence. It wasn't that she was specifically _not _invited, Edward's and my relationship too secure to be bothered by her presence. But she'd chosen not to come, her shame over her betrayal and the after-effects of her torture at Aro's command leaving her a shell of the vampire she'd once been. My heart had actually gone out to her, and I'd wondered if I should make some effort to heal the rift by offering an olive branch of sorts. But then Kate had admitted that there were any number of single, male vampires in Volterra willing to comfort Tanya in her time of suffering, and I decided that I would leave well enough alone.

In the front rows sat Edward's and my combined families; an eclectic grouping of humans, vampires, and shape-shifters...all the people I loved most in the world together in one place.

But I only had eyes for Edward.

I didn't know if his knees had buckled when he'd first seen me, but it was taking everything in my power not to cover the distance between us at vampire speed and throw myself into his arms.

"Edward," I breathed involuntarily when our eyes first met, the love radiating from his too handsome, too wonderful face almost my undoing.

"Bella," he whispered in response, and my heart leaped in my chest.

"Steady," Charlie murmured, holding me to his side with gentle pressure on my arm as we continued to walk forward in time with the music.

The sun, a ball of flame hovering low in the sky and sending shimmering red, orange, and golden light across the lake, had almost reached the top of the mountain range in the distance when I reached Edward's side. Charlie placed my hand in Edward's, and I turned to brush a kiss across my father's cheek.

"Thank you, Dad," I whispered. "For everything."

He smiled in response and went to sit beside Linda, putting his arm comfortingly around her shoulders as she surreptitiously wiped tears from her eyes. I could hear Renee softly weeping, but I knew they were happy tears, so I kept my focus exactly where I wanted it to be...fixed on Edward.

"You look beautiful," he murmured, but loud enough for everyone to hear, his words triggering a sigh from the gathering.

"So do you," I responded, my words triggering a spattering of laughter.

"Handsome...you look incredibly handsome," I muttered, rolling my eyes, my own smile stretching my cheeks wide.

We'd decided that Edward would go first, so I waited patiently while he composed himself, content to just be with him, holding hands, and basking in the love that surrounded us more completely than the glow of the setting sun.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly blew it out, his sweet, intoxicating scent causing me to sway a little on my feet.

"Isabella Marie..._Swan..._Cullen_,_" he recited, including my maiden name in honor of the occasion, even though I was happy to go by Cullen alone.

"The first time I saw your lovely face, events were set in motion that would transform both our lives irrevocably and forever. I can hardly comprehend the magnitude of the changes that meeting you...knowing you...loving you...have wrought in my existence.

"When my regrettably black eyes met your beautiful, warm, brown gaze that day in the Forks High cafeteria, the feelings that overwhelmed me, both physically and emotionally, were so new and strange that I had no idea what was happening to me." Edward's rueful smile was accompanied by Emmett's guffaw and the sound of Rosalie elbowing him sharply in the ribs. "But I know now that your presence was bringing me to life. I'd been frozen, sleepwalking through a seemingly pointless existence...not alone, for I had my family's support regardless of how difficult I made it for them to love me." His glance in their directions was met by understanding looks and gentle smiles. "But I was so very lonely..." he continued, returning his amber gaze to me, "...until I found you."

My heart swelled at his words, and I felt my lower lip trembling. Releasing one of my hands for just a moment, he reached to stroke my lip before gently cupping my cheek. A sob caught in my throat, the love infused in his gentle touch almost my undoing. But then I saw out of the corner of my eye and felt the effect of Jasper bolstering my composure. Shooting him a grateful glance, I refocused my attention on Edward, not wanting to miss a word of his wonderful declaration.

Swallowing hard, he dropped his hand from my face to recapture my hand, staring for a moment at our entwined fingers. When he looked up, his eyes were filled with a mixture of emotions: sorrow and regret mingling with the ever-present love, his next words catching me by surprise.

"I should have left immediately. I should have run far away and never returned...but I couldn't. Rosalie warned me what she would do to me if I harmed you in any way, not that I blamed her in the least, her motivation being to protect a fragile human from my monstrous interest. At the least, I should have taken Emmett's advice and gone to see Carlisle, to talk through with him how I was feeling...but I didn't."

I didn't share in the regret evident in his eyes, my feelings tempered by the knowledge that we most likely wouldn't be standing here today if he'd acted on either of his siblings' advice.

"But all I could think was that I had to see you again," he continued. "I had to get to know you, to discover why I couldn't read your thoughts and what it was about you...other than your undeniable beauty...that affected me so deeply."

Taking a deep breath, he turned to look at first Charlie and then Renee.

"I know I've apologized before, but I'd like to say again, here and now before all these witnesses, that I am terribly sorry for the pain and suffering I put you both through..._all _of you." He motioned with his head toward Jacob and Billy and then his own family before returning his sorrowful gaze to me. "Though my biggest apology and everlasting regret is the fear and pain I caused you, Bella, when I gave in to my bloodlust and attacked the one person in the world I would come to love more than life itself."

I wanted to tell him that his words weren't necessary, and that, personally, I didn't think this was the time or place to be resurrecting old wounds. But then I realized that it _was _necessary...for Edward.

"I forgive you," I murmured.

"I know." He smiled softly. "I didn't deserve your forgiveness when you first gave it to me, and I don't deserve it now, but I will be eternally grateful for your kind and generous heart that makes it possible for you to give it so freely.

"When I realized that I had fallen in love with you, that I would continue to love you for the rest of my existence, I deemed it fitting punishment for my crime that you must surely despise me for what I'd done. My only fear was that you might be deprived of _your_ mate by my actions...that _you _might suffer, well...suffer more than you already had. But you astonished me with your compassion and understanding, and you changed my world when you were able to put what I'd done behind you and love me in return."

Edward's head dropped for a moment, his shoulders shaking ever so slightly, and it was my turn to reach out and gently caress his face, my fingers tracing along the edge of his jaw until he raised his head once more to meet my eyes.

"I love you, Bella, and I always..._always..._will. Because of you, I no longer simply exist...I live." The smile that accompanied his words was radiant, matched by my own.

"Because of you I know what it is to love and be loved. You've filled all the empty spaces in my life and made me whole. You've made me believe that I am a _man _and not a monster. You've taught me how to be a friend, a lover, and a husband, and because of your family's remarkable gift..." we both glanced at Renee and Phil, the love in their shining eyes reflecting what was in our own, "...I'm going to be a father, something that overwhelms and terrifies me more than anything else I've faced in this life." His awe-filled but wryly spoken words elicited laughter from amongst our family and friends. "But with you by my side, Bella, I know that even that herculean task won't be impossible...that I'll be a good father because I'll have you to guide me, your example to follow.

"Whatever life may hold for us, whatever adventures, triumphs, difficulties, or challenges we may face, I look forward to the future because I'll be _living_ it with you.

"I promise to love you forever, Bella, every single moment of forever."

With those words he leaned forward to place the sweetest, most reverential kiss on my lips while our audience burst into spontaneous applause, clapping, cheering, whistling and wiping their eyes...those that were capable of tears.

When he pulled back, Edward's smile was incandescent, his eyes shining brightly with both love and joy. A part of me would have been happy to end the ceremony right then and there, but I'd also come a long way in the last year, and there was something very important I wanted to say.

Raising my hand to silence the crowd, I couldn't help rolling my eyes when a few of the visiting vampires visibly flinched, their gasps of fear clearly audible to my vampire ears.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," I muttered, letting out a huff of frustration that triggered a round of quiet snickers from some of my family members who really should have known better considering the gravity of the occasion. But then I smiled, too, relieved that not everyone was afraid of me.

Taking a deep breath, I found Edward's eyes and took a few seconds to absorb the sweet calm that his touch and his presence provided.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," I began, my voice surprisingly sure. "Meeting you, being loved by you, marrying you, are the most wonderful, the most amazing things that have ever or could ever happen to me. I know how sorry you are for the way things began between us, and for a long time I was angry that I'd not been given a choice in the matter."

He winced at my words, and I ran my thumb over the back of his hand in soothing circles, willing him to listen to the rest of what I had to say and not get lost in regret.

"No...I didn't get to choose this life, the timing of my change, the fact that you and I are vampire soulmates...any of it." Looking up into his beautiful face, I willed him to stay with me, to _believe _what I was about to say. "But I have come to realize, to believe from the bottom of my heart and with every fiber of my being, that if you had somehow managed not to bite me, your _singer, _the first day we met—if you had miraculously been able to resist the my scent and left me human—we would have still come to this place at some stage...to this promise of a lifetime.

"You and I were destined for each other, Edward. Whether as humans, vampires, or any other creature that might exist, I believe we would have found one another, that our _love _would have found a way for us to be together.

"I don't mean to hurt anyone by saying this," I murmured a little sorrowfully, shooting an apologetic glance at my parents' before returning to meet Edward's intense, amber gaze. "But I'm _glad _you changed me when you did, because if it hadn't happened then, I know I would have wanted it to happen at some point so that I could be with you as your equal, and I think that would have been very difficult for you to accept.

"Edward, I want you to know that if I had been given a choice, I would have chosen this life with you over all others, every time, no matter what the cost. I was _meant _to become a vampire so that I could live my life at your side and so that I could love you with everything that I have, spirit, soul, and body...forever...and ever."

The happiness I felt in that moment threatened to overwhelm me, and I didn't need Alice's gift to picture how wonderful Edward's and my life together would be. While I looked forward to sharing the rest of our special day with our family and friends, my anticipation for our honeymoon to begin simmered barely beneath the surface. Edward had promised sweet seclusion, his only request that I bring a white bikini, though I would happily spend the entire time wearing nothing at all as long as we were naked together.

When we returned from the destination he insisted on keeping a secret, we would continue to be surrounded by our family..._both _our families: living, laughing, growing, and sharing in ways I'd thought lost to me forever but that had now become our precious reality.

Impossibly, we were soon to be parents of a little baby girl who I didn't need a clairvoyant's prediction to know would bring untold joy into our lives, not to mention the excitement, drama, and inevitable worries that vampire parents of a human baby could expect. But I wasn't afraid or daunted by the task...well, no more than any expectant mother.

No matter what challenges, heartaches, or triumphs life might bring our family's way, Edward and I would face them together, every aspect of our lives infused with the greatest blessing of all...love.

This time when we kissed, worshiping each other with our mouths, I barely noticed the sounds of celebration all around us. Lost in our own, private world of hope, love and passion, Edward lifted me in his arms and spun me in a slow circle while the setting sun cast a benediction of light over our sparkling forms...and the future that stretched gloriously before us.

The End

_**Sigh...**_

_**I have to admit to feeling a little sad to have finally reached the end of my first ever fanfic story. Whether you're one of my amazingly faithful reviewers, have only ever reviewed occasionally, or never before, I'd love to hear what you thought of this story. **_

_**Thanks for all the wonderful support.  
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_**xxx TLSue**_


	58. Request and Announcement

Hi Everyone.

I just wanted to let my wonderful readers know I've signed with The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House, and my reworked fan fiction story, A Forbidden Love, will be published on December 17th. Yay! It's new title will be Innocence. My first original story, also a historical romance but with a slight 'Beauty and the Beast' feel, will be published soon after. My author name is Elise de Sallier, a reworking of my much loved grandmother's maiden name. You can find out a little more about me and my publishing endeavors at .com or by following me on twitter at ESallier or facebook as Elise de Sallier.

Thank you so much for all the support I've received. I'm doing a little better on the health front now I have a diagnosis (or five...these darn illnesses seem to accumulate!) and am happily writing full time now I can no longer work as a counsellor. To those who are wondering, I'll definitely be leaving my other two stories up...for as long as FFn lets me as they are rather lemony!

Thanks so much for all the prayer, best wishes, and support. It's great to be a part of such a wonderful fandom.

xx Elise (LOL! I'm getting used to a name change!)


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